A Daughter's Honor
by DarknessofDawn
Summary: When Sasuke was but a chibi, he had a close friend. When Itachi slaughtered both of their clans, he though that she too had been lost. But when a young genin bearing a diagonal scar across her face appears, could it be the one he has missed so? AU.
1. Tainted Memory

Title: A Daughter's Honor

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd be one rich onna now. However, I do own Fuyu Yoru-but if you ask, I'll be willing to share. -holds out chibi Yoru-plushie for everyone to glomp-  
  
Warning: Uhh... This story is A/U. A lot of angst and it will get pretty fluffy. Everyone-you have been warned. -jumps up and down hyperly- OOC-ness abounds.  
  
Rating: P.G.ish for cursing and violence. -evilish grin- This rating most certainly will go up later.  
  
Pairing: Mainly SasuYoru (OC)

Author's Notes: Alright, since I've recently had surgery, and my sensei won't allow for me to train for a while until I heal up fully, I decided to put this idea I've had floating around in the deepest phantoms of my brain down on the computer. The timeline is after the incident with Haku and Zabuza and prior to the chunin exam. And-as mentioned in the above warning-Sasuke acts very OOC later in the fic. 

The more reviews, the faster chapter one will be typed!

Whoo-whoo! The prologue! Oh boy, this is gonna' be fun...

Chapter Dedication: This chapter goes to Mercury-san! Thanks for being the first person to plant this idea into my head. -hehe-

Oooo-kkkkayyyy! Go read. I shut up now.

Prologue-Tainted Memory

_The sound of soft laughter wafted on a cool, flickering breeze that blew through the Village of Konoha. Two youngsters, a boy and a girl, were sitting in an orchard, eating the apples they had pilfered while the old man wasn't looking._

"_That old fart isn't around, is he? Do you see him Sasu?"_

_The girl glanced up to her comrade, the chibi Uchiha Sasuke-who was seated as lookout in the apple tree. Not seeing the old man, he took another apple and dropped it to the girl._

"_Nope. He's still inside."_

_She didn't catch the apple, but pounced on it before it could roll away. Sasuke leaped down from the tree, landing on his rear end on the carpet of rich green grass._

"_Think that's enough?"_

"_Yepper!"_

_The girl smiled prettily at Sasuke, her intelligent gray eyes going into the cutest of shapes. Sasuke grinned proudfully, feeling his ego increase at the admiring look she gave him._

"_Yoru, let's see if Itachi wants some too!" He raced off toward the residences of the Uchiha and Fuyu clans._

_Yoru nodded, trying to hold on to the half-dozen apples as she ran after him, her medium length ebony hair trailing behind her. _

"_Wait for me, you dope!!"_

_Sasuke acted as if he didn't hear her, only stopping when he reached his home. _

"_You dopey meanie."_

_Yoru pouted and panted hard, scrambling to keep a hold onto the apples she still carried._

"_Heh heh."_

"_Blehh."_

_Yoru stuck her tongue out at Sasuke and the two of them entered the building. From that first step, they could tell that something was wrong. An eerie silence filled the house. Normally, at this time Yoru's mother was over there and helping Sasuke's mother with dinner. The two clans' were close friends with each other._

_Sharing a glance with each other, the two youngsters slowly walked to the kitchen door. Where there should have been cheerful laughter and happy voices, was silence._

"_Momma?"_

_Sasuke pushed opened the door, which had been left cracked opened. It caught on something, and wouldn't open completely. Combining their strength, Yoru and Sasuke shoved the door hard. _

"_MOMMA!!!"_

_The two women lay where they had fallen. Yoru's mother was slumped over there counter where she had been cutting up vegetables, while Sasuke's mother lay butchered on the floor. _

_The apples forgotten and falling to the floor, Yoru made as if she was about to run to her mother's side, but Sasuke stopped her and pushed her behind him. _

"_C'mon! We have to find our fathers!"_

_Sasuke gripped Yoru's hand tightly, and pulled her out the door. His heart was pounding with fear and an aching sadness, but right now he was too numb but the sight of his mother's lifeless body to allow himself to cry. Yoru's tears fell uncontrollably down her cheeks, and she continued to throw glances over her shoulder as if she expected for her mother to spring back to life and come to comfort her. _

"_Dad? Dad, c'mon!" _

_Sasuke banged hard on the door of his dad's weapon room, the place where the shinobi stored his equipment. Both his father and hers used this room for practice, sparring against each other and honing their skills._

_The door slowly creaked open. _

"_Itachi?"_

_The older boy stood there, holding a blood-stained kunai; Sasuke's father lying in a heap at his feet._

"_Why did you...?"_

"_To see what I was capable of."_

"_That was it...you...you killed everyone for that reason?"_

"_It is important."_

_Itachi's cold and empty eyes settled on his little brother and his young friend. The kunai flashed toward the both of them._

"_This way, Yoru!"_

_Sasuke yelled, half-dragging his friend out the door, back outside, and into the forest. The sound of Itachi's pursuit spurred them to run as fast as their little legs could go. _

_Feeling as if they had been running forever, the two were forced to stop. That reason, and the fact that they could run no further. There stood a cliff, and a waterfall spiraled down it to the misty pool far below them._

_Itachi stepped from the treeline, and slowly made his way to the youngsters. The kunai he held was being thrown up and down with alarming speed. _

"_Sasu, look out!!"_

_Yoru stepped into the way when Itachi slashed with the kunai in a down-curved motion._

_SLICE._

_The kunai's blade sliced directly across Yoru's face, barely missing her eyes and continuing down to about mid-cheek. She stumbled backward, her left foot hitting the slippery and damp edge of the ledge. _

"_Yyyyyaaaaaa!"_

_A scream of absolute terror was the last thing heard, as the young girl slipped and fell into the mist. Sasuke raced to the cliff ledge, yelling Yoru's name until his voice was hoarse and he could yell no more._

_Itachi slowly and sedately moved to his little brother's side. Sasuke looked up at him, eyes filled with his own fear._

"_Don't kill me."_

"_You are not even worth killing, foolish little brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me...and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life."_

_Itachi vanished back into the forest, leaving Sasuke to live. _

"_Yoru... YORU!!!"_

_----------------_

"Sasuke...Sasuke...WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"

'Hm...'

Uchiha Sasuke opened his eyes, greeted by the sparrow-haired Uzumaki Naruto. Mentally, he winched at the brightness of his teammate's hair-that was something that would certainly wake you up. Sasuke rubbed his ear. Damn, did Naruto have some lungs on him.

"Bastard."

"God dammit, you cold freak, all I did was wake you up!! You looked like you were having a bad dream so I thought that you would be grateful for once!"

A cold glare was sent in Naruto's direction.

Haruno Sakura sat down beside of Sasuke.

"Naruto's right, for once. You were tossing and turning and yelling as if demons were on your tail."

"Where are we?"

Sasuke's voice felt abnormally dry, and hoarse. He took a swig of water from the canteen, which needed to be refilled from the steam anyway.

"Where we fell asleep last night. Remember? We're on our way back to Konoha. Kakashi went ahead of us so to talk with the Hokage."

Inner Sakura was worried about Sasuke. He seemed...distorted. Unfocused. Totally unlike his normal self.

"By the way...who's Yoru?"

Sasuke's gaze snapped up and his dark eyes met those bright blue and curious ones of Naruto.

"What? Don't look at me like that; you kept on saying that while you were sleeping. So...who is it?"

"She...was an old friend of mine."

"She?! GRRR!!!"

Flames appeared in Sakura's eyes. Inner Sakura was vowing that she would kill this Yoru-girl if they ever me.

"She died a long time ago..."

Author's Notes: Well, that is it for the prologue. Did you like it? Sorry, I kinda' left you all hangin'. Reviews are welcome; and you can go check out some of my other work...

Plans so far for Chapter One:

(1) Team 7 makes it back to Konoha.

(2) When a missing-nin kills her teammates and jounin on the outskirts of Konoha Village, what shall this mysterious young genin do, and what is the story of the scar across her face...?

(3) If you wish, I may include your original characters. If you want for me to do this, please submit your character profiles in a review. I would say to e-mail them to me, but my e-mail croaked. sweatdrop Original characters belong to their creators-no one else!

(4) Other ideas are greatly appreciated. Ideas submitted will also receive credit to the submitter. Bleh. -wonders to self if that makes any sense...-


	2. Dark Night

Chapter One-Dark Night

Disclaimer: Repeating things is bad for my health...

Warning: Angst, death, a ramen theft, and an evil Kakashi? o 0 Rating: P.G.ish still for cursing and violence. -evilish grin- I really need to up the rating here soon. Will it ever be rated R? We'll see.  
  
Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. Other pairings...possible. 

Author's Notes: Whee! Chapter one is finally finished. It took me long enough...but then again, I've been very busy.

-stares all all the nice reviews- Kiyyaaa! Oh, thank you, thank you! I'm glad that you all enjoyed my fanfic! Here's the next chapter, and chapter two is in works...

Chapter Dedication: And this chap goes to Usagi! Miss ya' girl-child; and here's all of us hoping you're having a good time where you now live. Enjoy!

-Sasuke pounces and covers the author's mouth before she is able to continue- Hurry and read before she starts up again!!!

Chapter One-Dark Night

A piercing and freezing cold rain plummeted from the overcast and violent clouds above the treeline.

No pain anymore. Not even a tingle. Just cold. Deep, penetrating cold.

"_I'll look after you. Don't worry; I'll be here. I promise."_

She could dimly see a figure in her mind's eye. Someone she thought that she may have once known. May of once cared about.

She did not know. Her memory was fuzzy from those days. Occasionally, certain things and events triggered a flash of memory. Names never came to mind though, nor faces. Hell, all she could recall was shadowy people and familiar voices.

Pain.

Opening her eyes for real this time, she firstly saw that it was raining. No wonder she was cold.

Then she saw her best friend in the world, lying in a pool of his own blood. The genin had been gutted, his intestines coiled on the ground next to him.

A cold chill went down her back.

"Lin-sensei?"

She managed to squeak out, coughing fiercely from the effort to speak. The girl pulled her body up, then a soft whimper slipped from her mouth.

Her jounin's head lay under a tree not to far away from her; his body not in sight.

"Ryu-ko?"

A soft, whispery voice creaked from behind her.

"Sonha!"

Ryu-ko dragged her body over to the closest sister she could remember. The older girl was lying with her back propped up against a tree, her glazed violet eyes barely able to stay focused on her.

"Ryu-ko...w...wh...y?"

"I don't know, Son-chan."

"Tai...yo's de...ad. Is...n't he...?"

Sonha's words sounded even fainter to her ears. How she had loved their fellow genin dearly. She knew that she would be with him soon.

"Yes. Both he and sensei."

A slight smile, the briefest curve of her lips, was the only thing that Ryo-ko saw. Those eyes closed, and a soft breath rattled from Sonha's chest.

"Hold on, Sonha! Don't die on me! Don't leave me too..."

There was no answer. Sonha's spirit had passed on to whatever afterlife that Ryu-ko had been forsaken from...

A crystalline tear slowly slipped down Ryu-ko's cheek. Why? Why had they had to run into the missing-nin? Why did Lin-sensei have to forsake his duty to protect his genin and attack him?

A fierce flare of pain coursed its way through her body. She could remember the blow the missing-nin struck on her. It was remarkable that she was even still alive.

Of course, the blood running from the jagged gash on her side didn't help matters. Struggling to stand, she forced herself to stagger away from the sight of death and destruction that lay behind her.

A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth from the effort of movement.

'So this is what it is like to die?'

Panic gripped Ryu-ko, and she almost fell into a ditch. Sliding down the embankment, she ended up lying on her back at the bottom of it, her eyes staring unblinking up at the raining sky.

'I don't want to die!!!'

_-cutscene-_

"You did what?!?!"

Kakashi stared down with his one visible eye at the three genin. Naruto hung his dead, the bruises on his face sharp and obviously fresh.

"I got hungry."

"Yah and he tried to take some ramen from that new restaurant in the village."

"Only he forgot that he had no money."

The jounin shook his head at the impossibleness of Naruto.

"You should have just waited. Iruka would have bought you each a bowl of ramen since your mission had been a success."

Kakashi tried to have patience show in his normally calm and laid-back voice.

God help him.

_Sigh..._

"No dinner. You three will go out on a sweep around Konoha."

"WHAT??!!"

Naruto stared at Kakashi as if the jounin had sprouted another head.

"You heard me."

"That's evil!"

Inner Sakura was growling fiercely at Kakashi. Outer Sakuya was trying to think of a way to sneak some food from her home so that she could share it with Sasuke.

"Return before midnight, and I'll make sure you get something to eat."

"DAMN!"

_-cutscene-_

"Naruto, you see anything?"

Sasuke hissed to the blonde genin, who was supposed to be keeping point. The young ninja was easily distracted, however, not keeping his attention properly on his surroundings.

With a sigh, Sasuke elbowed Naruto hard in the side.

"Oomph!"

"You better pay attention for once."

"I don't have to listen to you!!"

The two bickered amongst themselves as they walked through the undergrowth that tangled along the outskirts of the city. Sakura kept on trying to interfere, and managed to strike Naruto with her fists several times whenever he dared to insult her beloved Sasuke.

"Ah!"

Naruto ran from Sakura after one particularly vicious wave of punches, diving into the underbrush in order to escape her. However, since he was looking back at her, he wasn't looking at where he was going and he tripped over something, sprawling face forward into the dirt.

"Shit. That hurt."

He moaned, and then looked to see just what he tripped over. Probably just another damn root.

It was a person, severely injured. First Sakura, and then the trailing Sasuke, peered over Naruto's shoulders.

"Is she alive?'

"I don't think so."

Naruto picked up a stick, poking the limp girl's arm. The arm twitched slightly, and one gray eye opened about halfway.

"She's alive!!!"

The girl managed to turn her face until she was looking at the trio of genin. They could see a scar that went from the top of the right side of her face, all the way down between her eyes and stopping just below the left side of her chin.

It was an old scar; one that had been long healed.

For some reason, Sasuke was struck with an unusual familiarity, as if he and the girl had met before. There was no recognition within her eyes as she looked to them, just a muted plea for them to end her suffering. She had lain in the ditch all night long, slowly and painfully losing all her blood without falling into a blissful unconsciousness.

"Shit. Shit shit shit. We need to get her to a healer, pronto."

"Lend me a hand here, Naruto. Sakura, go tell Kakashi. He'll find a healer."

Sasuke growled at Naruto, snapping the boy from his wonderment. Sakuya vanished in a cloud of chakra-produced smoke-a move taught to her by Kakashi because of her strong chakra control.

Both he and Naruto gently lifted the limp figure between them, and slowly headed back to Konoha with their burden.

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: Yyyyyyaaaaahhhhh! Chappie uno is done, done, done! -cheers- And only with a few days from the prologue-I'm on a roll!

Plans for Chapter Two:

(1) A healer tends to Ryu-ko.

(2) An amusing event involving Kakashi's manga...

(3)Forgotten memories are sparked on Ryu-ko's side, while Sasuke is haunted even more by his past and the familiarity of the girl. Have they met before? Or is this just some funny coincidence? Hehehe...


	3. Troubled Start

Chapter Two-Troubled Start

Disclaimer: -evil eye- -points to the prologue and Chapter One-

Warning: Angst, a healer, needles... -big eyes- -runs away-

-Yoru-plushie chases after the writer and drags her screaming back.-

Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes, and an apple incident.

Rating: P.G.ish still for cursing and violence...and even more amusement...but maybe the rating should be higher... Will this rating ever go up? I say yes.  
  
Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. So if you don't support this couple, then that's your opinion.

Author's Notes: For all those who were wondering... Yes. Ryu-ko is Yoru. But shush. Don't tell Sasuke that...

-Sasuke pops up- Tell me what?

Nothing, nothing. Go back to whatever you do for fun... -sweatdrop-

I still need original characters more than anything else, but not really until chapter four. You'll get more details at the end of chapter Three...

I'm glad to finally be at Chapter Two. Muwah. o 0 I have no life. Actually...I do...I've just been having a lot of free time lately. My poor leg... _Sniff...sniff..._

Chapter Dedication: And this chapter goes to both Kya-chan and Kenji-mun. My little sister (not really, we're just good friends) and one of my best guy friends...also the one who has been dubbed as my stalker. Heh. Don't blame me, bud, blame good ol' Shiinji.

-glomps then cuddles Sasuke, who never left and was now giving the readers a pitiful look- H...he...hel...p...m...me...

Chapter Two-Troubled Start

_A dark and blurred figure was running ahead of her. _

"_Wait up!! Slow down; don't leave me! Ooph!"_

_She tripped, falling hard on the ground and skinning up her knees. The person turned his head in her direction. She looked up at the outstretched hand, and then up higher to the person._

_-cutscene-_

Light.

Blinding and painful light.

Ryu-ko moaned and tried to turn her head, trying to escape from the light.

"Miss...Miss...you must open your eyes."

A voice ordered her.

"Go away."

"Miss..."

This time a hand shook her, trying to snap her out of her injury-induced slumber.

"Go fuck yourself."

"Da-mn. She is Little Ms. Attitude, ain't she?"

Voices. A different one from the kind, motherly voice which belonged to the person who first spoke.

"It's remarkable that this girl can even speak. She's been through a lot in these past three weeks."

!!!THREE WEEKS!!!

Gray eyes snapped opened, giving the elderly healer a start. The old woman clenched a fist to her chest.

"Oh, dear! Youngling, you just gave me quite a scare."

"Excuse me, Mother Mikomi."

Kakashi slipped by theKyuui Shrine priestess and stood next to the bed, looking down at the young genin. Her uniform's style and sigma told that both she and the three bodies that had been recovered had been from Ishi-otherwise and well known for their stone ninja.

"Who are you? Where is this? If you plan to kill me, then at least have the decency to get it over quickly."

The girl eyed him sharply, and Kakashi could tell that the lot that life had thrown her hadn't been good to her thus far. Her attitude was a form of self-defense; her using it in order to protect herself and make herself look tougher.

She was tough; no person could take that away. She had fought with both fangs and claws in the struggle of survival.

"But then again...if I've really been here for as long as you say-three weeks-than I doubt that you were planning on killing me to begin with. If you were, than I would have already been dead, and not waking up in a rather comfy bed."

Kakashi's visible eye widen at the sheer cheek that this girl possessed.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I am a jounin here in Konoha. This woman is Mother Mikomi, and she is the lead priestess here at the Kyuui Shrine. You should thank her, as she is the one who nursed and healed you back to health..."

The gray eyes turned to Mikomi, who had busied herself in the changing of Ryu-ko's bandages.

"Um...thanks, I guess."

Those words were unfamiliar on her lips. The old woman smiled brightly to the girl on the bed.

"Kakashi is going to take you on a short walk so you can speak with the Hokage."

Seeing the worried look in the girl's eyes, Kakashi said comfortingly.

"Don't have any worry. The Hokage doesn't bite."

And almost smug smile fluttered across her lips.

"Yah. Is that so? Well, I do."

"First things first, though. Before you go, I must administer an injection. It will help your body fight off any infection or bacteria that you may pick up while outside."

Ryu-ko jumped, staring hard at Mikomi, who was holding a needle ffffaaaarrrr too large for her taste and was filling it with a reddish liquid of some sort.

"You won't feel a thing."

"You got that right."

The girl brushed past Kakashi and scrambled off the bed faster than bacon could leave a frying pan, and she dived under the bed. Curling herself up into a small ball, she was sufficiently out of their arms' lengths.

"Come out from under there right now."

"Drop the needle, or the perverted manga gets it."

Perverted manga? That could only mean one thing...

Kakashi reached to where his manga should have been, but didn't feel its normal, squareish shape.

'Come-Come Paradise' was being held tightly in Ryu-ko's hands, a stolen kunai from Kakashi being lightly pressed against the front cover. Kakashi nearly panicked, giving Mikomi a frantic look.

"Alright, alright youngling. But as soon as you return, you must take this shot with no argument."

"Deal."

Ryu-ko crawled out from under the bed, handing the stolen manga and kunai to Kakashi...who once again hid them. He saw that when the girl had answered Mikomi, her fingers were crossed. Mentally, the jounin sighed. Great, just great. It was all the village needed...another troublemaker.

Another troublemaking genin, to be precise.

_-cutscene-_

"Hear anything on that girl we found?"

Sakura interrogated Naruto, as he had been the one to ask their jounin that question more than her or Sasuke.

"Nope. All I know is that the priestess-lady has threatened to skin us if we took it upon ourselves to see. And the scary part is, I believe her!"

Sasuke stayed silent through this entire interchange, boredly cutting up an apple into slices with a kunai so he could eat it. His mind seemed elsewhere...even more so than usual...

He then looked up, and saw his jounin with the girl that Naruto and Sakura were talking about limping beside him. That same sting of familiarity pricked his skin lightly...yet as before the only thing he knew to do was shake it off as nothing like the time before.

"Why don't you two ask her for yourselves..? She's right there."

"WHAT??"

Yelled Naruto, and he instantly raced off to Kakashi and the girl. Sakura followed hesitantly behind, giving Sasuke a side-long glance.

Sasuke, too, followed, still cutting up his apple.

Ryu-ko stared at the two genin her age which were battling on who would talk to her first. Kakashi had to grin and chuckle at their antics.

'Okkkkaaaayyyyy...now...'

She thought, and turned her head to get a look at the last genin walking slowly up to them. Her eyes searched his face; it was familiar, but she couldn't place why and how. Shrugging it off as nothing just as he did, she lowered her gray eyes...and saw the apple Sasuke was cutting. The kunai glinted once in the afternoon sunlight...

And Ryu-ko screamed...

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: Tired...need...sleep... -cuddles up to her pillow aptly named Sasuke...who is tied up and unable to escape- Sleepy time now...

Plans for Chapter Three:

(1) A discussion with the Hokage brings up some startling revelations.

(2) -hinthint- A jealous Sakura. (This idea's credit goes to jazzie309...thanks for reviewing and sending in the suggestion!)

(3) The return of the missing-nin that slaughtered her teammates and jounin sparks a rage within Ryu-ko. If she loses control of that fury, will Konoha be placed in danger? And will she remember any more of her cryptic past?

End. --; Geez.


	4. Burn, baby, burn!

Chapter Three-Burn, baby, burn!

Disclaimer: I most certainly ain't going through this once again.

Warning: Angst, a discussion, revenge, rage, and a death. Don't worry; the next chapter will be even more romantic! –sigh-

Rating: P.G.13 for violence. Finally, the rating went up. It took long enough.  
  
Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. So if you don't support this couple, then that's your opinion.Author's Notes: -runs and hides from people angry at her for cutting off Chapter Two when she did- Don't hurt me, you'll find out what happens here in this chapter. Yipe. –dodges behind Usagi before a wave of kunai could hit her- This is going to be a long day...

The reason behind the fact that all my chapters are so short is rather simple. It is easier for me to take time out of my busy schedule to type up shorter chapters than longer ones. But don't you readers worry; the next chapter is going to be very long.

Yes, Ryu-ko is skilled, but in the matters of thievery. She was forced to find a way to survive in Ishi, so that is what she resorted to. I'll explain out her time there in another chapter...probably around Chapter Eight. –SPOILER ALERT-

Chapter Dedication: Chappie Three goes to...uh...well...I guess my best RP buddy in the whole wide worldie, Syaoran. –holds up a mug of root beer- Here's to many more adventures with our genin characters!!

-cheers-

Whew. My hand hurts just from typing the 'A.N.' section. Go read now...

Chapter Three-Burn, baby, burn!

"What the hell?!"

Kakashi threw a look that silenced Naruto, and then dropped to Ryu-ko's side. She had fallen to her knees, her hands over her face and her shoulders shaking in pain.

"What the hell'd you do, Sasuke?!"

"You're speaking nonsense. I did nothing."

Kakashi placed one hand on the girl's left shoulder.

"Miss..."

_She...was holding the apples that she and the shadowy figure had picked...That boy..._

_She could recall how heavy they seemed to her young self, and complaining loudly that the boy she obviously seemed to be friends with needed to slow down._

_A flash, and there was her mother. Those lifeless eyes, vacant and missing the spark of life that was so dear to her, haunted her very so._

_The apples fell..._

"No."

She looked up, realizing that she was kneeling on the ground with a concerned crowd of people hovering around her.

"Miss, what happened?"

"It's not 'Miss'; I have a name. It's Ryu-ko."

Why wasn't Kakashi surprised. The street name more than suited her, even though it wasn't a real name...

"These are my genin; Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura... Now could you answer the question?"

"It's..."

Ryu-ko wavered, then shook her head and stood up.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Kakashi wondered if they had been pushing the young girl past her limits. But as more and more villagers turned up missing, they needed her to tell them about the missing-nin who attacked her and her comrades.

"Are you sure?"

Sakura pestered some more. Kakashi shooed them all away.

"You'll have time to speak with her later. Now, we really must be heading to the Hokage's."

Pushing the girl ahead of him, Kakashi directed his genin to go on ahead and take the day off. He left with Ryu-ko.

_-cutscene-_

"Geez."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, tilting that said head inquisitively to the side.

"Wonder what that was all about."

Sakura's attention had shifted from the pesky Naruto to the still silent Sasuke. He was staring down at the apple he had been cutting up in his hands, and the kunai.

"Sasuke...?"

Sakura moved closer to Sasuke, bother her Inner and Outer selves concerned at his even stranger behavior than the norm.

"Sasuke, what is it? Is something the matter?"

He didn't seem to hear her words; the only reaction was the lifting of his head to look in the direction that Ryu-ko and Kakashi had vanished into.

"I must speak with her."

His words shocked both Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke didn't even notice that his teammates were still there; he just walked off in order to brood alone.

Sakura burst into tears. She never had heard him exhibit interest in anyone, let alone another female. Then those tears were instantly gone, and a fury burned within her eyes. If anyone was going to have Sasuke, it would be her. Sakura wasn't going to let any conniving bitch take him away without a fight to the death. Now all she had to do was come up with a plan. And a good one too. One worthy of Sasuke's attention. 'He's mine! And I'm gonna' prove it!'

A strange smile slipped across the pink-haired genin's face.

Naruto backed off, and then slowly edged away before Sakura could notice him and use him as her 'stress reliever' once again. When the pink-haired genin started acting like this, it was better to be as far away as possible. And if Naruto dared to guess at whom that fury was directed at, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Ryu-ko.

_-cutscene-_

"He was wearing a dark ebony cloak, and Lin-sensei thought he was just a traveler like us. He had stopped to see if the guy needed any help, when he noticed a foul smell coming from the man. I mean, we all noticed it..."

Ryu-ko stopped, eyeing the Hokage and jounin watching her and listening to her every word.

"Go on."

"...The man's clothes were completely soaked with blood, both fresh and old. He had a funny look in his eyes when he looked at us... I guess he had met my jounin before, or maybe he had just heard of him, because Lin-sensei ordered for us to stay back. They started fighting...and the man...the man..."

She broke off, painfully choking on a sob caused by the painful memory of her sensei's brutal slaying. The Hokage was forced to admit that enough was enough.

"Hush now."

He spoke the words kindly, and then looked at the gathered jounin.

"Post guards at the entrances into Konoha, and make sure that there's a patrol of at least five surveying the area at all times. Work out a shift system."

All except for the girl, the Hokage, and Kakashi depart. Kakashi went to the Hokage's side and then whispered something in the elderly man's ear.

"Hm...Do you have family in Ishi?"

"No."

"Guardians?"

"No."

The Hokage looked almost thoughtful.

"If you do not mind me asking, but what happened to your family? Are they dead?"

"Sir, I can honestly say that I do not know."

Ryu-ko looked down at the ground, a pained expression plastered on her face.

"And why do you not know?"

"I have no memories of my childhood. The first thing that I can remember is someone finding me, and presenting me to the shinobi at Ishi. I stayed there ever since..."

"So...you have absolutely no memories what-so-ever?"

Ryu-ko's head snapped up, and she looked at the Hokage with consideration.

"Not...exactly. Sometimes I have flashes. But they seem as if I am looking through another person's eyes; as if they are not my own memories. And yet...somehow I know that they are. Does that make any sense?"

The Hokage shared a glance with Kakashi. This certainly explained a lot. Kakashi would look into the matter of any prominent clans missing any of their daughters.

"Certainly it does. And since you have no reason to return to Ishi, I must ask you this. Would you like to stay here? You can complete your training with a new team, and become a jounin of Konoha? What do you say?"

Ryu-ko stared at the Hokage in shock and wonder. She couldn't believe that anyone could be so kind.

"Really? Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"

She ran up to the old man, hugging him out of sheer happiness.

"How can I ever repay you for your kindness?"

"Try not to cause too much trouble. We get enough of that from Naruto."

_-cutscene-_

Speaking of which, Naruto was bored. But then again, that wasn't new for Naruto. I mean, just look at who we are talking about. But that's getting off subject.

Naruto stopped several times while he wandered through the market, ogling at all the different kinds of food for sale.

Reaching into his pocket, the only thing he pulled out was a few lint-bunnies (which quickly hopped away) and an old piece of lemon-flavored hard candy with tuffs of hair and fluff sticking to it. Ah, so that's where that went. He had been looking for it.

Should he take some of the delicious smelling food and make a run for it? Nah, the last time he had been caught and the bruises from the incident had only just finished healing.

But then again, it actually turned out for the better. Ryu-ko-chan would have died if he hadn't been in trouble and sent out on patrol with the others.

Naruto had a feeling that this was going to be a good day...

...You poor, delusional soul.

_-cutscene-_

Blood splattered across the ground as the simple farmer's body thudded hard against the side of the tree.

The darkly cloaked man withdrew a huge and extremely sharp blade. Tearing the farmer's shirt off, he eyed the damage. Good, none of the vital organs had been damaged.

Now...the question was what part would he harvest first?

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko said not a single word to the jounin escorting her back to the shrine. Even though she insisted that she felt just fine, he refused to allow her to exert herself more. Rest was the best healer of all.

Her thoughts were back on her reaction to the kunai and apple that dark-haired genin held. Why did it affect her so?

_-cutscene-_

The cloaked man looked up from his bloody task at the sound of footsteps heading toward him. Beside him was a pile of fresh organs he had taken from the dead villager.

'Fresh...kill...hungry...kill...kill...must kill...hungry...kill..'

Were the insane thoughts of the missing-nin. He lifted the heavy blade, and stood his ground.

Waiting...

_-cutscene-_

"We're almost to the shrine."

Kakashi was watching the silent genin beside him. She was bothered, probably on the thoughts of her team's untimely deaths.

And oh, how the man was wrong...

It was that why he never noticed the man standing on the path in front of them before it was too late.

The missing-nin lunged, that blade carving a silver hacking motion toward the jounin. Kakashi cursed at his lack of attention, ducking and dodging out of the way.

With a crazy and high-pitched laugh, the missing-nin loomed over the frozen Ryu-ko. She was staring at him with wide gray eyes, shocked by the sudden appearance of the murderer.

"I...I'm gonna' tear out and feast on your heart, my pretty."

The missing-nin babbled, the strange expression never leaving his face.

"Why?"

"Ryu-ko, run!"

Kakashi hollered at the young girl, but she acted as if she didn't even hear a single word he said. Ryu-ko stared at the ground.

"Why Lin-sensei? Why Sonha and Taiyo? They never did anything to you...!"

Her voice shook with sadness...and...was it?...yes...an untapped and uncontrollable fury. She closed her eyes...

"Food...food...must feed...must kill...must destroy..."

Ryu-ko's eyes snapped open and she jerked her head upward so to stare eye-to-eye with the missing-nin. Kakashi noticed a strange glaze with her eyes, a red spark the smoldered passionately.

"You-you bastard!"

With a howl in answer to her words, the missing-nin went as if he was going to attack the unarmed Ryu-ko. The genin didn't even flinch.

Her hands flowed into the seals rapidly, and the burning feel of her chakra filled the air.

"Nanatsusaya!"

She screamed the words, naming the attack and completing the seals. Flames; burning, scarlet flames, tore through the air surrounding Ryu-ko, flickering and snaking to the missing-nin.

Crimson Inferno.

The black cloak caught on fire, and the missing-nin shrieked when his own flesh burned from the chakra-created flame. Even while his body burned, he slowly and painfully crawled his way towards the girl..

"Ddddiiiieeee......"

He rattled once, and then was still. Ryu-ko stared coldly at the lifeless burning mass of flesh, a crooked half-smile plastered on her lips. She...enjoyed that...

"Ryu-ko."

Kakashi was shaken by how atrocious the genin had been, and how much she seemed to take pleasure in the act of killing the man.

"Ryu-ko, he is dead."

When Kakashi stepped towards her, she suddenly turned her head and gave him a dangerous look. Her body weight was shifted to a pose providing better balance for a quicker attack.

'She plans to fight me?! But why...'

It was then when the jounin remembered that same glossy look in the eyes of several shinobi he was forced to fight and kill before. That look of one who would continue to fight and kill even when their body had been wounded beyond repair. Fight until the last enemy had been destroyed.

Houston, we have a problem.

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: In case you were wondering, Ryu-ko/Yoru is a berserker. All those born of the Fuyu clan are...I'll send you or add details if you want them.

Plans for Chapter Four:

(1) A section of Konoha goes up in flames... -wide eyes- I didn't do it...

(2) Ryu-ko regains control of her blood-lust, and there is romantic scene between Sasuke and her...

(-coughcoughkisscoughcough-)

(3) Ryu-ko is placed with a new team. Will they get along with the girl?

Alright-now you get the details about the characters...and yes...I do need characters from you peoples. Three in fact (although...more are welcome, it's not limited to just three-I'll just figure out a way to add them into the story somehow...)-two genin (male or female, it doesn't matter) and a jounin (preferably female) to make up the new team... Just post the info below in a review or send it to the e-mail listed below with the heading 'Fanfic Character' and I'll choose the best ones in order to include them in the story. There won't be a new chapter until I get these...

Name: (This is your character's name. Keep in mind that their surname comes first.)

Clan:

Clan Info: (See below for details on the questions that would be liked answered...)

Age:

Appearance:

Eye Color:

Hair Color:

Hair length and style:

Clothes:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Skills:

Techniques:

Favorite Foods:

Background Information:

Relationship with Yoru (to be used later in the story):

-Clan Questions-

Clan Name:  
Clan Starter:  
Clan Head:  
Clan Age and Status:   
Current Village:  
Clan Bloodline:  
Clan Element:  
Clan Emblem:  
Clan Background:  
Clan Specific Techs:  
Clan Skills:

Things you need to think about when making a clan:  
How did this clan originate? Which village?  
How does the rest of village view the clan's members? What is their attitude towards the clan members?  
How do the clan members view the rest of the village? What is the clan's attitude towards the village?  
What kind of skills does this clan pass down through the generations?  
How large is this clan?  
Do the members in this clan bicker amongst themselves?  
What are this clan's weaknesses?  
What are this clan's strengths?  
What role does this clan have in the village, if any?  
Does this clan take likely to others finding of secrets?  
Who started this clan?  
Does this clan specialize in a certain ranking, such as ANBU or HunterNin?

It doesn't have to be long, but the more detailed and descriptive it is-the more likely I'll use it... –smile- Credit is given to the character's owners. Also, you can now contact me at ; our official Kadiska and Co. e-mail service. Be sure to direct the heading to me, so that I know it is mine and none of my friends read it without permission. If you want to speak with any of the others from the team, leave the heading as a general topic and not address it to anyone. We may all answer it, or whoever is on at that time. If you want to send the character information there, go on ahead.

On to other news...is there anyone out there who is interested in joining up with Kadiska and Co.? If so, e-mail me that you want to and I'll send you the details. In particular, we are looking for two new members...one who has knowledge on web-site building (since Gunner is far too busy right now to work on ours –sigh-) and someone with moderate art skills (and a scanner). If you have both, that's great; but hey...even if you can't do either I'll be willing to lend an ear and possibly add you to the team! Still interested? Well, E-MAIL!!!

Also...

CONTEST ALERT!!! CONTEST ALERT!!!

This is for all the artists out there among the reviewers. Whoever can draw the best picture of Sasuke and Yoru wins! The prize? An automatic place on 'Kadiska and Co.', a character slot opened in the story (and they can pretty much be whatever they want from the Naruto Universe...good...bad...etc...), 5 gazillion 'Cool Points' for gags, and the opportunity to type up a chapter of their choice in this story. Sounds good? Prizes may be added, but none will be taken away!


	5. Yoru's Profile

**Yoru's Profile**

Author's Note: This time around updating, I've decided to include a basic Yoru's profile. You can use this as an example in the creation of your own characters to include within the fanfic!

Name: Fuyu Yoru

Alias: Ryu-ko

Gender: Female (Well, duh! That's a bit obvious...)

Age: 13

Village: Born and lived most of her early life in Konoha, started her ninja training in Ishi, since then is back in Konoha...maybe we should just say that she's mobile.

Team: Pending...

Clan: Fuyu Clan

Clan Emblem: A small silver kitsune surrounded by flames. It signifies the clan's stealth with their fiery abilities.

Background Info: Whew. –cracks knuckles- Here goes nothin'.

Fuyu Yoru was born rather unexpectedly to her parents on the way back to Konoha from a mission they were assigned on. Having seen the wilds and travels at such a young age, even though she didn't comprehend it nor could remember nothing more than small flashes, she had the wild inside her.

At the age of three was when she was first introduced to the youngest son of the neighboring Uchiha clan, Sasuke. Their first meeting was rather hectic, as the young girl had knocked him over and made him cry. But soon after that they settled their differences and played rather well together.

Two years passed uneventfully. It proved to be a mixed blessing Yoru being friends with Sasuke, since the youngsters could never seem to escape from trouble. Their names became well known around Konoha, and if there was a problem, most often you would find both behind it.

Uchiha Itachi murdered Yoru's mother and father, along with his own parents. He would have killed Sasuke too, but Yoru's move saved her best friend's life, and irrelatively seemed to end her life.

The seven years after that are unknown to all save her and the people of Ishi, as every last person, including Sasuke, had written her off as dead. However, before her skills were noticed and she was accepted into the Ninja Academy there in Ishi, she had perfected herself to becoming a sly thief, using the stealth abilities she had previously learned from mini-lessons with her parents and watching them in action. Because of the fall from the cliff, she retains none of the personal memories of any of her teachings or her life before waking up in Ishi, just that her body still remembers what to do.

Having returned alive to Konoha, Yoru has caused quite a stir among the genin and jounin. Until her memory is fully recovered from the depths of her mind, who knows what will happen...

Appearance: Yoru stands at 5'2'' in height. She has a scar tracing itself down the middle of her face (missing her eyes), which ends below the left side of her face.

Hair Color: Her hair is long and ebony in color, the bangs worn short and choppy.

Eye Color: They are a deep gray which tends to reflect her moods. They are most often a shade of steel or pale gray.

Clothes: All black-except jacket. Loose storm gray jacket over a really tight black shirt, jacket has clan symbol on the back. Pants are black with silver spiral flame markings on the lower legs. She wears a black dog collar around her neck, which has a metal pendent of a silver kitsune right in the middle. Her footwear alternates from Zori sandals to heavy black boots..

Personality: She's a beautiful warrior who feels empty at heart. Her friends (teammates) and family were killed; so therefore she kills her enemies in turn. She is hard to befriend, and is quite lethal. Fuyu Yoru is a regular Jack-of-all-Trades, for she is one who dives into her training and assignments. She is a really smart person; although she tends to use those smarts to get herself into more trouble. She would be a handful for any Shinobi Instructor who dares to take her on as a new student here in Konoha. She has few friends excluding Sasuke, yet she is loyal to the point where she would die for those who have obtained her friendship.

Likes: Uchiha Sasuke (that's a given), training, what dim and very, very few memories that she has recovered, silence, and trouble in general.

Dislikes: Uchiha Itachi, perverts, pests, Sakura (Yoru still has no idea what is going on.), and ramen. (Yes, I know, she's weird. She doesn't like ramen! –laughs-)

Favorite Food: Almost anything, really. Except ramen. :-D

Skills: Gifted (chakra), quick learner, stealthy...

Techniques: (Does not include clan techs.) Clone/Split Body Technique, Body Substitute Technique, Transformation Technique, Touketsu Kire, and Yurasu Kansei.

Teacher: Pending...

Rank: Genin

Weapons: Pending...


	6. The Hardest Thing

Chapter Four-The Hardest Thing

Disclaimer: I most certainly ain't going through this once again.

Warning: Angst, a burning village, an accident, and an unpredictable kiss... Yay! Fluff!!! –laughs-

Rating: PGish-P.G.13ish for violence and language...and that kiss... My, what mouths these genin have...  
  
Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. So if you don't support this couple, then that's your opinion. Author's Notes: Okay, I lied. Here's the new chapter. 

Yes, I know that I promised to add the two new genin and jounin characters in this chapter, but since I had this idea, I needed to get it down. I absolutely swear that the next chapter will be dedicated to the new characters.

I finally get to explore the romance aspect of this story, and better develop the relationship between Ryu-ko/Yoru and Sasuke. –cheers once again- I'm a hopeless romantic, don't mind me. –hugs her Yoru-plushie super, duper tight and grins hugely- -squish-

All typos are my fault.

Uh...this is probably going to be the longest chapter in the entire story! –laughs-

This is also one of my more serious chapters. I promise to make Chapter Five funnier as well. –winkwink- When you read the Author's Note at the end of this chapter you shall see what I happen to be talking about...

Chapter Dedication: This chapter goes to the seven people who first reviewed to this ficcie. And those people would be Randomfanfictionreader, x0-Summer-aurora-0x, J.P. Yabao, jazzie309, sUmbOdi, Cookie6, and last (but most certainly not least of all!) Amasaki Reyoko. I must thank all of you for your support and for giving me the courage to continue this story. –BEAM-

Chapter Four-The Hardest Thing

Kakashi backed slowly away from the advancing genin. Her eyes were emblazoned with pure fury. Ryu-ko could feel her blood rushing painfully inside her.

The blood-lust was just as bad as the missing-nin's insanity; Ryu-ko couldn't control it.

'N-no!'

She hesitated. These people here in Konoha had been good to her, and she wanted to kill them? What kind of person would she be then?

No better then...

"Itachi..."

Ryu-ko murmured out loud; causing the jounin to pull a double-take.

'Itachi...the same Itachi as Sasuke's brother? Or another...?'

Screaming her mental anguish, she turned her back on Kakashi and raced into the village.

Holy shit. In her state of mind, she was going to harm some innocent civilians!

'God damn it!'

Following the berserk genin, Kakashi pushed himself to the limit. Ryu-ko's fury gave her the speed to keep out of the jounin's reach.

"NARAKU-KA!!!" ((AN: No relationship what-so-ever with the Naraku from Inuyasha!))

He heard her yell, and then an entire district of Konoha went up in flames. People shrieked in fear, some trying to put flames out, others trying to avoid being burned.

Hellfire.

'Fire-based chakra...fire-based chakra...'

There was once a clan that specialized in that element of chakra. Of course, there were many clans like that but one particular one lingered with the jounin's mind...right on the tip of his tongue...

_-cutscene-_

Yipe.

Flames flickered on the edge of Naruto's vision.

"Shit; what the fucking hell is going on!?!?"

He started to head to see what was up, when both Sakura and Sasuke caught up with him.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

"Huh? Oh, hey guys!"

Sakura watched entranced as Ryu-ko stepped from the flickering flames. The fire danced about her figure; the flames in her eyes even creepier. Because the flames were created by her own chakra, she was not burned by the fire which caused such chaos and destruction.

She turned on the genin. Her hands started to form the seals of another one of her attacks, preparing to launch it at them.

"STOP!!!"

Sasuke lunged past Naruto and Sakura, right to Ryu-ko. Heedless of the burning power of the flames about her, he gripped her hands tightly so to stop her from completing the seals.

Her gray eyes suddenly lost their murderous look...and turned to look into Sasuke's. They widen slightly and she whispered in a level of voice that only he could hear her.

"Sa...su..."

Sasuke froze at the sound of his childhood nickname, while her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she slumped unconscious in Sasuke's arms. Ryu-ko had used far too much of her chakra-since she was still healing from her previous injuries. Kakashi came onto the scene, late as always.

"Ah, good. Let's take her back to the shrine..."

_-cutscene- _

Two more days have passed, not even a full week yet. Most of her sores still hurt, as they weren't totally healed just yet. Mikomi was worried, fearing that the healing chakra she had used wasn't working properly on the young genin.

Ryu-ko insisted that she was feeling fine. Perhaps she was doing better than the old woman thought.

She helped with most of the chores around the Kyuui Shrine, as keeping herself busy was the best thing for her to do. It kept her mind and hands busy, and doing that has kept her from thinking about fighting and destroying.

And thinking about Sasuke.

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko had just finished with hanging the clothes and she started to go back inside but then she noticed Sasuke standing there, watching her. She stood there for a moment and then decided to get her courage together and ask him her question. She planted her feet firmly in front of him.

"What do you want, Ryu-ko?"

Sasuke stated quietly.

"I was just curious why you've been watching me, that's all."

She shied away, unable to meet his sharp gaze. She had forgotten everything of her loss of control, her mind unable to bother the girl with those memories. She had also conveniently forgotten what she had called him...

"Not sure".

He stated almost immediately.

"Why do you wanna' know?"

Ryu-ko huffed at his tone, glaring at him with daggers in her now-steely cold gray eyes.

"Because it's been bothering me".

She snapped right back at him.

"Why should it bother you? We've never met."

Sasuke immediately regretted those words at the even more pissed off look she gave him. She curled her hands into fists, snarling her words.

"And are you sure about that?! Every time I see you I get the feeling that we've met somewhere...sometime before! I get the feeling that we were friends!! But I can't remember...I...I just can't..."

Her voice trailed off, trying to halt the tears from exploding out. She didn't want to even try doing what she was thinking of doing because she knew that he could kill her. Instead she turned and took off.

Sasuke watched her with some confusion.

"What is she up to?"

He asked himself. Sasuke suddenly got worried about what Ryu-ko would do.

Then he thought...

'In her condition? No way!'

Suddenly, Sasuke heard a huge blast from the direction she just took off to.

"Aw...shit!"

He ran towards the explosion. Sasuke finally got to where Ryu-ko was and she was setting fire to an isolated portion of the forest with more chakra than she could use while in her condition.

"Ryu-ko! Stop it!"

Ryu-ko looked back with tears streaming down her face. She had the look of a killer in her eyes but her strength seemed to be lacking in her facial features. She started to form the seals again and she set even more trees on fire.

"What do you care?"

"Ryu-ko! I said stop! What do you think you're doing? Huh?!"

"I have to release my anger somehow!"

Ryu-ko whimpered, her hands shaking so much that she could barely finish the seals.

"You can't just set fire to anything that you think is deserted!"

Sasuke goes up from behind her and grabs her arms so to stop her.

"Why not?"

Ryu-ko shouted, and begun to wiggle around in his arms so to get him to let go.

"You're not my keeper!"

Sasuke put his mouth to her ear. His light breath made her stop struggling in an instant.

"Maybe I should be."

She placed her hands behind his head and ran her fingers gently through his hair. Sasuke released her arms and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ryu-ko leaned her head back on his shoulder. She let out a big sigh as she felt all her anger disappearing and trailed her fingers down his the back of his head and rubbed the fuzz on the back and runs her other hand down his neck.

"What are you up to?"

Sasuke whispered in her ear.

"No good?"

Ryu-ko said shyly with a smirk, her gray eyes flickering back and glancing at Sasuke.

"I can see that."

He released her suddenly, feeling watched. With a quick glance around the area, he saw that there wasn't any person around. Well, he didn't want to provide his jounin with any blackmail material.

"You should get back to the shrine and rest. You're still far too weak to be running around and using your chakra. Hell, a child could beat you while you are at your strength now. Later."

He almost growled, then turned and started walking away from Ryu-ko.

"Hey, you bastard!!!"

Sasuke stopped, and turned back toward her.

Ryu-ko pulled her fist back and slugged him straight on the jaw. Sasuke went back a bit from the force. He turned his head around with blood trickling down his chin. He looked at her wildly. Her eyes spoke of anger, fear, and disappointment. All that Sasuke saw was the anger. He hit her right back with as much force as he felt inside of his heart, but he hit her a little too hard and she went flying into a nearby tree. ((AN: Evil, evil trees...so very violent...)) Her head bounced right off of the tree and left a little stain of blood on the bark. Sasuke gasped as he noticed that she didn't get up from the blow. He ran over to her and turned her to face him.

"Ryu-ko?"

He grabbed her head in his hand and puts one arm around her back. The wounds on her side and back—had been broken open! Sasuke suddenly gasped at what he did.

"Ryu-ko!"

He didn't know why but he picked her up without another word and rushed her back to the Kyuui Shrine.

_-cutscene-_

The shrine priestesses took Ryu-ko and placed her in the bed right away. Sasuke shoved some of them out of his way so to sit down next to her. He took a hold of her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I didn't think I'd actually make contact!"

Mikomi comes in. The other priestesses made a path so the healer could get to the bed. For a few moments she looked down at Ryu-ko. Then she looked up to see Sasuke's face. Sasuke gave the healer a pitiful look.

"Did you do this?"

She asked as if she was talking to a child.

"Yes..."

Sasuke lowered his head.

"I didn't mean to. I thought that she would block before my fist landed on her."

"I have told you shinobi three times before you guys took her to that Hokage of yours that she will not have her full strength for about seven weeks. Now because of this she must wait another two weeks to heal, and then another three weeks after that before she can even start training..."

Sasuke lowered his head in shame.

"I'm so sorry."

Sasuke sighed. He wasn't sure if he was serious, but he knew very well that he didn't have to hit her back. He should have held his temper in check. Now, for reasons unknown to Sasuke, he actually felt bad for hitting Ryu-ko. It made absolutely no sense to him.

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko gasped and sat up from a nightmare. She turned her head over and saw the digital clock say 11:47 PM. She had been sleeping for seven hours, but it only felt like fifteen minutes. She put her arms around her knees and leaned forward so that her chin was touching her top forearm. She sighed heavily as she looks around in the gloomy shrine room. Ryu-ko thought she would never have to see this place again. She was already sick of the food that 'Mother' Mikomi and her priestesses served her. These people were so happy and cheerful that Ryu-ko felt like taking a kunai to them!!!

She shook her head in resentment. Ryu-ko shouldn't be like that. She felt that she needed to, but it was not completely all there. It seemed that the reason that made her not care for anyone was gone. These other strange feelings were all so new to her. It was so hard for her to piece them all together...way too hard to right now because she was only half-awake!

A small rap on her window alerted her attention. Ryu-ko gasped again suddenly and placed her legs over the edge of the bed. She stared at the curtain-covered window for a few moments and finally realized that there was a silhouette there.

Ryu-ko rubbed her eyes and then blinked a couple times to try and get her sight working more properly. She was right! There was a dark silhouette behind the curtain. She quickly ran up to the curtain to part it. The sight takes Ryu-ko slightly back and she almost tripped over a chair. Teetering on one toe, she balanced herself steady for a few moments...waving her hands in a circling motion to keep her there so she didn't fall over and hurt herself.

The window suddenly burst open and the person caught her before she landed on the hard floor. Out of instinct, Ryu-ko reached out with her hands and grabbed the person's shoulders. She shivered and held onto the rock hard strength that helped her.

"Are you alright?"

Ryu-ko blinked a couple more times and then looked up at her rescuer. She made a small gasp.

"S-Sasuke?"

She gulped hard.

"Yes. Surprised to see me?"

He sat her back upright.

"Uh huh..."

She nodded slowly while looking down. Her arms were still around his shoulders. Ryu-ko suddenly felt flush. She didn't think that he'd come to see her. But then again, he was the one that put her back into the priestess's care, hopefully on accident, although she thought that he wanted her dead right then and there.

"I didn't think you'd actually come and visit me."

Her eyes haven't even met his yet. There was a little pause before she heard his slight sigh of frustration.

"It-it took me awhile to figure out if I really wanted to come see you or not."

His eyes were elsewhere also. Ryu-ko continued to keep her arms wrapped around his shoulders. She was not sure if it was because she was afraid of falling again, or because she was petrified from the moment.

"So what made you decide to come see me?"

Her eyes were now fixed on his chest, which was rising and falling quickly.

"Well-um...I guess I felt bad for hurting you."

He gulped hard.

"I-I really didn't mean to...I mean...uh..."

He took a deep breath.

"You were supposed to block!"

Sasuke looked down at her and smirked. She finally looked up at him with a weird expression on her face.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you know...you put your arms up before my fist makes contact?

That's how you block."

"I know that, baka!"

She finally let's go of his shoulders and made her way back to the bed.

"I don't need YOU telling ME how to fight!"

She sat down on the bed with a hard bounce.

"Careful or you'll open your wounds again."

Sasuke smirked.

"I know that!"

Ryu-ko huffed. She turned her head and started to stare at the clock. It said 12:24 AM. Sasuke walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

"So what don't you know?"

He smiled sarcastically. Sasuke watched as Ryu-ko continued to stare at the clock. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. She opened them again just in time to see the last number change to a five.

"Do I have to answer that?"

"Don't answer me with another question!"

Sasuke said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure why I have even bothered to come and see you but I did. I felt bad for putting you back in here and I don't even know why. I just saved you from hurting yourself and possibly reopening your wounds again, and now you're being bitter towards me."

Ryu-ko turned around in annoyance.

"Oh! And you just told me that I was supposed to block! That was REEEALLY nice of you, Sasuke! So what else did I do wrong that you should point out to me?"

"Well for starters you never said "thank you" when I caught you!"

"Well ok then- THANK YOU SASUKE! THANKS FOR CATCHING ME!"

"Hey! Don't you dare take that tone with me!"

Sasuke stood up right in front of her.

"You know-maybe I should have LET you fall on your ass! That would have been so funny to see!"

"OH! You know what's funny to see? YOU being here in the first place and then throwing all this bullshit at me about how sorry you are for 'accidentally' hitting me!"

"Oh! OH! That's really mature of you, Ryu-ko! Real mature! Maybe I made a mistake for coming here! I knew something like this was bound to happen!"

"Oh, did you now?"

Ryu-ko gets up in his face.

"Or were you hoping for us to kiss and make up? Or perhaps you were hoping for more than even that to happen?"

"NANI?"

"Yeah! That's it! You were hoping to get lucky, weren't you? Admit it!"

Sasuke made a disgruntled noise.

"With you? I don't think so!"

Ryu-ko threw her arms up.

"You are being SO impossible! WHY ARE YOU EVEN STILL HERE?"

"Good question."

Sasuke turned around to leap out of the window.

Ryu-ko got a real sharp pain inside of her and she rushed over to him.

"WAIT A SECOND! STOP!"

Sasuke stopped at the window with one foot up on the sill. His hands were still touching the sides of the window as he looked back.

"Why? I thought you said I can leave?"

His lip curled up a bit.

Ryu-ko put her one hand over her chest to try and quiet down her heartbeats.

"I didn't say you can leave."

She got up closer to him and started to shake a little.

"I was just asking you a question."

She gave him a slight smile.

"Oh".

Sasuke took his foot off the sill. He turned around and sat on it instead.

"It wasn't a very good question."

He forced a smile.

"Yes...I know. I just...I don't want you to leave".

Ryu-ko stated quickly, almost too quietly for him to hear.

"Oh?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You want to continue with our fight then?"

He smirked.

"Please, Sasuke!"

Her face showed pain for the first time. Sasuke was a...bit surprised by it.

"I don't want for you to leave... Please..."

Ryu-ko felt pain deep inside herself. A snippet of memory flashed through her mind...

_A familiar arm was thrown around her shoulders and warm laughter followed. They were posing for a picture; her...him...and several others. Their faces could almost be seen clearly; only an ever dimming shadow hiding them..._

Sasuke stifled a slight chuckle and then looked up at her from his sitting position.

"So then YOU wanna' kiss and make up?"

He gave her a sarcastic smile. She didn't say anything, and just stared at him with her hurtful look. Sasuke sighed with frustration and then stood back up. He got within a few inches from her face and placed a finger under her chin.

"You were hoping for that weren't you?"

A small tear rolled silently down Ryu-ko's cheek.

Sasuke' throat tighten up and his legs started to feel like jelly. It became harder for him to even move his finger from her chin.

'You're not supposed to make me feel this way, Ryu-ko!'

Sasuke thought to himself.

'You're a murderer! A filthy murdering monster and I shouldn't be feeling this way...'

They had all learned a bit more about her past while at Ishi, and the rather blood-splattered history of the shinobi team she had been on. They all were known to be one of the more brutal and hardest teams from Ishi, but also one of the best there.

Sasuke felt her gulp hard under his fingertip. He tried to show her in his eyes that he didn't want to give her any kind of mercy. Ryu-ko sighed with a small stutter and continued to stare into his eyes. Brows lowered or not, it was a beautiful sight to her.

'I'm going to hate myself in the morning for this...'

Sasuke leaned down to her face and carefully placed his lips onto her trembling ones. A small moan tried to escape from Ryu-ko's mouth just before they lock, and she threw her arms around him fiercely. Oh, she was certainly not letting him get away from her so easily.

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: Yay! They kissed, they kissed! There's the romantic aspect in the story-it took me long enough to type! Heh heh. I told you that Sasuke was gonna' act OOC!

You see what happens when two shinobi with strong personalities end up attracted to each other? People get hurt.

-Yoru-plushie grins- I believe that it's called a lovehate relationship, right?

Sure is!

Whoa, and Sasuke doesn't even know that Ryu-ko is Yoru yet. Don't worry, they find out within the next three chapters or so... -wink- It's gonna' be interesting; trust me!

–Yoru-plushie gives everyone a frightened look- Really believe her...she's already working on it...

I just love the new jounin and genin. Hope that I'll capture them how their owners wanted them to be like! Send in more!

Plans for Chapter Five:

(1) Ryu-ko is placed with a new team. Will they get along with the girl?

(2) Training in a dark cave while chasing a...lemur...? Yes, you heard me right. A lemur. - o.

(3) Sakura starts a war against Ryu-ko...while Ryu-ko doesn't even know what the hell is going on!!! Poor Ryu-ko!!!

(4) A brief visit from Itachi...and does he have feelings for Ryu-ko/Yoru? o 0 Things get interesting...

**_End of Part 1. Please flip the tape over to side 2. Thank you! _**


	7. Ministory 1

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #1**

****

**Ryu-ko and the Spider**

****

**Written by: Shiinji**

One fine eve, Ryu-ko returned home from a long day's worth of training. However, this homecoming wasn't to be like the norm. Unknown to the young genin, a terror was lurking amongst her property, and in her home.

"Stray! No regret 'cause I got nothin' to lose. Ever stray! So I'm gonna' live my life as I..." She stopped there, having a strange feeling almost as soon as she stepped into her room. "???" 'What's that?' She thought, eyes wide as she looked around, knowing that something was different but not being able to see what.

That was when she noticed.

A big, fat, hairy spider was sitting on her bed; its beady eyes watching the shinobi's every move.

"Kkkkkkyyyyyaaaaa!!!!" Ryu-ko shrieked, and hurled a torn-off sandal at the icky arachnid. The spider dodged, scuttling under her pillow. She then took her other shoe, and carefully approached the bed. As soon as she lifted up the pillow, an eight-legged freak of nature pounced, landing on her shoulder.

She froze; gray eyes bugging out. 'I...it's on me...'

"Iiiiiiyyyyyyykkkkk!!!!"

**SLAM. SMASH. CRASH. BAM. CRUNCH. SNAP. BOOM. SHRIEK. SPLAT.**

Then next morning, Sasuke stopped at Ryu-ko's house to see if she was awake and wanted company on her way to the place her jounin said to meet at. Walking in without knocking, he suddenly stopped.

Ryu-ko's house was in ruins. Holes were slammed into the walls, furniture ruined, windows smashed. Thinking that she had been attacked by a missing-nin or something like that, Sasuke rushed into her room.

She was slumped against a wall, holding a bent frying pan. As soon as Sasuke entered, Ryu-ko looked up at him and a strange smile crossed her face.

"I got it." She said and pointed with her free hand at the squashed remains of the arachnid.

---------

A/N: Hi you all! Name's Shiinji and I'm just one of the many writers for Kadiska and Co. 'Cause she is taking a break for a bit in order to work on other stories, I decided to help her entertain her fans by typing up this random, crazy, and funny little ministory. You like? I hope!


	8. The Lemur Chase

**__**

Chapter Five-The Lemur Chase

Disclaimer: Repeating things is bad for my health...so let us not go through this once again.

Warning: Angst (it never seems to leave...), new genin, a very pissed Sakura, the brief return of a brother, and more of the memory mystery (Bleh, say that a million times fast.) unravels. –takes a deep breath- Whew. Rating: P.G.ish for cursing and a suggestive situation... Man, I feel like I'm hosting a show on Adult Swim or something... -sweatdrop- Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. Other pairings...well...let's leave it at that. I'm still not sure. It depends on a lot of factors. But it's entirely possible! Two possibilities are SuiKara and KakashiKarma. Hm... What do you think? Author's Notes: As promised, this fic is given to the new peoples; thank Kami that I finally got around to typing this. 

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how long I should make this fic. Definitely not as long as my Gundam Wing fic entitled 'Crash'-that damn thing is forty-five chapters long, even if the chapters are short!! ((Though I still need to upload the rest of the chapters)) Unless...you readers want it to be that long... -sigh- I think that I can do that, if I take all the time from working on my other fics and my shitty poetry...

Ah, well. You never know, that is all that any of us can say...

Okay, there has been a slight problem. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to go with this story.

So...I must ask you all this... Should it end after Ryu-koYoru regains her memory or continue on for a while longer afterwards? I have ideas up until she gets her memory back, but after that it's all blurry.

-Yoru-plushie wanders up holding a wooden box with the word 'Suggestions' printed across the top.- Suggestions? Suggestions for the Author's with Writer's Block Foundation?

Chapter Dedication: And this one goes to Dragon Man 180. Thanks for all the yummy reviews!

_-cutscene-_

Chapter Five-The Lemur Chase

"_Yoru...why are you so sad? Why do you cry? One smile, Yoru...that's all I ask. I...love you...Yoru. More than...you know."_

"Ryu-ko! Hey, Ryu-ko! Wake up, sleepy head."

"H...huh?"

Ryu-ko slowly opened her eyes, wondering silently who the person was that was trying to wake her up.

"Oh!"

"Don't 'Oh' me. You're as bad as Naruto when it comes to waking you up. Good morning."

She stared at the still-sleepy looking Sasuke, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance. Why the hell did he get her up? Why the hell was he here, for that matter?!

"Oh...Sasuke...Good morning...I guess..."

"Get dressed and get your ass to the Academy. Today's the day you meet your new team."

He rubbed the back of his head, and then yawned...it was still way too early in the morning for all this...

"Uh...'kay. I'll be there in ten."

Leaping to her feet, Ryu-ko literally shoved Sasuke right out the room and slammed the door behind him. Locking it, she breathed a sigh of relief and tried to calm her racing heart.

She couldn't even face Sasuke. Not since the last time they had seen each other... Not after they had...

Her cheeks growing warm, she quickly busied herself in the changing out of her nightclothes and the gathering of her things.

That name that she kept on hearing in her dreams...Yoru...did it mean something? Did it have any significance to her at all, or was it just another random muttering of her hazy mind? She wondered to herself, but she had a feeling that the name was important, and especially pertained to her. But...in what way...?

Ryu-ko stopped her actions, staring at the wall for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. Even though she had been through this before back in Ishi, this was still a big day for the genin. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted by Sasuke, or even the murmurings of her mind.

So what with the name. It was probably nothing, in any case.

_-cutscene-_

Hatake Kakashi waited outside the Academy. The Team was late, and this wasn't an aspect of the jounin in charge of it.

He couldn't help but wonder if the genin was up to this transition. It was a big change, and who was to say that she would even get along with her new teammates.

'Ah. There they are...'

Saiyo Karma. The top bitch of the jounin ranks, so to say. A cunning, intellectual woman with enough common sense and cynical humor to drive even the laid-back Kakashi up the wall.

Yet she was one of the closest friends he had left.

He raised a hand in greeting, then saw the blood staining her clothes. Her two remaining genin, however, weren't even scuffed-up.

"A little trouble?"

"Not really. Bandit scum. None of this blood's even mine."

Karma said with a smirk, then jerked her head at her students.

"Mind if these two get a break for a bit? They've had a hard day of training."

The two were shooed away after she said that, both heading off toward a 'Bed-and-Breakfast' place nearby that was the best hangout joint for genin in the entire village.

Breathing a sigh, Karma wiped her blood-stained hands on her clothes and gave Kakashi a disturbing smile.

"It has been a while. So...what's this about a new genin shoved into my care? I don't take welfare cases, you know."

"Her jounin and teammates were killed by that one missing-nin we'd been hearing about. The Hokage said she was to stay here since she has no other place to go, and she must be placed on a team. Because of the unfortunate accident that caused the death of your third student, you're the only one with an opening."

"Just wait until fall. There will be more deaths."

Fall was the season with the most fatalities among the genin, and this was because of an increased activity in bandits and missing-nin around the country.

"We can't wait that long. She's a priority case."

_Sigh._

Karma already didn't like the sound of this. Turning her sky blue eyes on her fellow jounin, she stared at him with such intensity that it was painful.

"What's her name?"

"Ryu-ko. But it's not her real name. Here, the Hokage wanted for you to see him when you got back. He'll give you the low-down on the situation."

_-cutscene-_

"...so that's the story so far."

The Hokage finished, and then gave the blue-eyed jounin a look that clearly said he was expecting her to take Ryu-ko onto her team.

"The girl is Konoha-born."

"We know that, Karma. And there are already people looking into the matter. It shouldn't take too long to figure out.

_Another sigh._

"Alright. I'll allow her to be added to my team. On one condition though."

"What is it?"

The Hokage was a little apprehensive. Knowing Karma, her request would be something he would regret later.

"You know those little fish-cakes served at 'Koutenha'? I want a dozen."

She grinned widely at the Hokage's flabbergasted look. Kakashi just shook his head slowly and shrugged. Well, that was Karma for everyone.

"T-that can be arranged."

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko was waiting outside the Ninja Academy, listening to a lesson being taught by Iruka, when Saiyo Karma walked up with her two students.

"Are you Ryu-ko?"

"Yes."

Karma smiled at the young genin, trying to calm the rather nervous-seeming girl.

"My name is Saiyo Karma. I am to be your new jounin during the duration of your stay here in Konoha. These are my other genin, and your new teammates. Chykuu Kara..."

A red-haired, blue-green eyed girl smiled friendly and waved from behind of Karma, where she had ducked shyly.

"And Yi Tei."

A boy that had spiky hair with streaks of red and one long bang that comes down to his chin and dark brown eyes that had waves of gold in them nodded his head slightly in greeting at Ryu-ko. He seemed to be a really quiet person...

"Today, we'll have our first training exercise. We're going to go to a cavern in the forest close by, and I shall give you instructions there. Hurry up."

Karma twisted her fingers into unfamiliar and strange seals, vanishing from the area.

"Let's go!"

Kara said, and then the three genin started to head for the cavern while talking quietly amongst themselves.

_-cutscene-_

Karma stood at the entrance to the cavern. She looked up at the sky, day dreaming for a little. Then she started to smile.

"...THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD! It has been such a long time since I have had such a great variety of students. I can't wait to teach them some new techniques. Maybe I can get them ready in time for the Chunin Exam...but maybe I am getting ahead of myself."  
  
As she continued to grin, Karma thought of all the possibilities of her newly completed genin team.

_-cutscene-_

Kara slowly made her way down the steep path ahead of the others.

"Umm wow...I've never been down here before...."  
  
Kara then tripped on a rock, and then started tumbling down the road. When she finally stopped, she found her Jounin waiting in front of a cave, just like she was told...

"Owww! That hurt! Ehhh, oh, hi! Karma-sensei...Ummmm, I kind of lost my way coming here and I accidentally tripped...so what are we going to do here?"  
  
Kara looked at the entrance of the cavern and started to examine it with great curiosity.

After looking at Kara for a second, Karma picked Kara up by her shirt and set her on her feet. Then she pointed to the caverns.

"This is the place I am going to train you guys, like I told you earlier. Are you ok? Are you hurt from the fall?"

Kara shook her head.

"Ok, then. Hey, did you happen to see where the other two were at on your way down here?"  
  
Karma looked off into the distance, hoping she saw the other two coming.

Ryu-ko hurried to the entrance. She could see that Kara and their sensei were already waiting...  
  
Breathing in a steady pant, she glanced around...taking in her surroundings. Ryu-ko noted several possible niches, nooks, and crannies that could be used during an attempt at a sneak attack, and she filed them in the back of her mind for later reference.

'Interesting place...so we are to train here...'

Tei smoothed over his hair and toyed with his matchbox in his pocket.

How would he do? He had fallen behind in other group training, would he be the weak link now? He hoped not. No, he knew he wouldn't be. He would be strong and have great strength.

He approached the others and waited for Karma's instructions. A bird flew by and Tei twitched. He had hated birds since when he was young. He was over it now, but still wanted to kill it. Tei slowly reached for a shuriken...

As Karma looked upon all three genins, she thought about what to start the survival training with.

'Ok, guys, follow me!'  
  
Instructor Karma turned around and walked into the cave. The three genin followed. It was a HUGE cavern. Very spacious. It was quite moist, though. But fresh air breezed in through the cavern entrance. Karma turned back around, then started to speak.

"Well genin, welcome to survival training. Here I hope to teach you all the basic means of survival for being a Shinobi."

She looked around at the three seriously.

"Ok, I think I have your first survival drill ready. I hope you guys are ready for it."  
  
She bites her thumb and rubs blood on her hand; then pulls out a scroll. Instructor Karma then performs a series of hand seals.

"KISOYOSE NO JITSU!"  
  
She then slams the scroll on the ground, out appears....a ring-tailed lemur! ((AN: About the size of a large dog.))

"This, is Kuyose. Your objective is to catch him! Are you guys ready? OK, GO FOR IT!!!!!!!"  
  
Kuyose waved it's tail.

"Gotcha' boss!" ((AN: Do ring-tailed lemurs speak? Well, this one does!))  
  
In an instant, the lemur took off! It was up to the genins to catch him, and bring him back to Instructor Karma. Little did the three know, this was no ordinary ring-tailed lemur...he was the fastest lemur alive.

((AN: Oh, boy... This could get...interesting..))

'Hm.'  
  
Already ideas were running through Ryu-ko's mind at the thought of catching the furry creature...however, like usual, she kept them quiet. She glances over to the other two.  
  
"So...any ideas..?"

Tei loosened his grip on his kunai. And thought deeply. He repeatedly flipped his hair out of his eye, but to his avail it kept returning.

"It depends. Do any of you know a mist technique? Or genjutsu? I think we should confuse him or trap him first. So bushin no jutsu seems a good starting tactic. I'm pretty sure this cavern has multiple paths. But splitting up without a plan is a bad idea."  
  
Tei paused just as something hit him. That's it!

"Alright, we need to stick together. When we find him we have one perform kawarmi no jutsu and have him land in a trap that we lay out for him. The trap springs and he has no where left to run."

Tei's plan seemed sound...Ryu-ko would just remember hers for later...

Kara frowned, and slowly shook her head.

"Tei, your plan seems good...So...umm...unfortunately I only have a Taijutsu technique...."

Karma looked at the three. She then decided to inform them on the real objective of this drill.

"There is a point to this drill. Attached to Kuyose's tail are a set of bells. You might of heard of this drill, but if you haven't I will keep my mouth shut. Well, good luck catching. And remember...he isn't an ordinary ring-tailed lemur. Keep that in mind."  
  
Karma smiled and turned in the direction Kuyose ran.

"Well, you guys have a lot of running ahead of you, so.....GET THAT LEMUR!!!!!!"

With much enthusiasm, Instructor Karma pointed in the direction the lemur ran. She knew that they probably couldn't catch him on the first try, but they might actually surprise him. She wished them all luck.

Tei did a quick check of his gear before nodding to the others.

"Everybody ready?  
  
He ran his hand through his hair once again.

"Here we go.  
  
He turned and began to walk into the cave. Jogging first, then running before pausing to listen. He heard the direction of the bells right ahead. He paused again, squinting into the dark.

"We're gonna need some wood or a lantern. It's pitch black down there."

"Umm okay... Tei, you have a matches right? Okay, all we need to find is a dry piece of wood."  
  
Kara looks around for a nice big dry piece of wood and finds it near the entrance. Then she also finds some dry moss as well and wraps it all around a piece of cloth she carries around with her.  
  
"Okay, you can light the torch. I'm not good with fire."  
  
((AN: She carries around pieces of cloth every where with her.))

"No, no matches. The matchbook has trick matches, and besides, I never risk losing a family heirloom on a mission. Don't worry, though, I don't need one."  
  
Tei performed the hand seals for the fireball technique and the tip of the stick burst into flame.

"Alright everybody ready, then? I think he went to the right."

By the time Tei had lit the piece of wood, they heard the noise of the bell. But for some reason....the noise got closer to them. Then, out of nowhere, all three genins were pelted in the head with rocks. They all looked in the direction the rocks came from, and saw Kuyose at one of the corridors of the cavern. He looked at them, held out his arms...and gave them the thumbs down. Then he turned around and started to shake his behind at the three.

"Nyah, nyah. You guys didn't even see those rocks coming. You are NEVER gonna catch me!"  
  
As the three advanced to where the lemur stood, he took off.

"Catch ya' later!"

And so he took off down the corridor of the cavern, knowing the three genins would soon follow.

Ryu-ko followed at a distance, hopefully having her teammates following her. Using the light from the make-shift torch, the sounds in front of her, and the senses she had honed in Ishi; she proceeded with little problem.-

'So we gotta' catch it...'  
  
Ryu-ko then glanced back to the others.  
  
"Come on.."

Tei shook his head, trying to rid himself of the ringing in his ears.

"Well, that was rude."  
  
He began chasing the sounds. He wished he had paid more attention in his animology classes, as if he had he'd be able to understand a lemur's logic. Even though he was uncertain the summoned lemur was really a lemur at all. He seemed slightly off.

Pausing, he looking around. Hmm, it appears he and Ryu-ko were the only ones pursuing Kuyose. 

Speaking of which, Ryu-ko was right behind Tei, her gray eyes watching the deeper shadows.  
  
"I believe that we may of left Kara behind.."  
  
She looked back, hopefully seeing if the other girl was trailing after them...

Kuyose noticed that Tei and Ryu-ko were chasing behind him.

'Hmmmm, they are faster than I thought....but still no match for my speed!'

Kuyose thought. As they continued down the cavern, Kuyose started making sharp turns and twists to throw them off.  
  
"KEEP AT IT GUYS!!! YOU CAN DO IT IF YOU TRY!!!!"  
  
Karma knew that they had very little chance of actually catching him, but there might be a chance they could.  
  
Ryu-ko dove deeper into the dark areas of the caverns, cutting across at a diagonal. Finding herself actually ahead of the lemur, she slipped into a cranny. As soon as the creature ran into sight, Ryu-ko would quite literally jump it.

Kuyose continued to run down the corridors of the cavern, and began giving Tei a really hard time by kicking rocks at him. But as Kuyose ran into the opening where the corridors intersected, he saw Ryu-ko jump out of nowhere and try to catch him.  
  
"WHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"  
  
Kuyose stopped for a second, and Ryu-ko inched closer and closer. But right as Ryu-ko was about to land on Kuyose, Kuyose sped out of the way. This caused Ryu-ko to land on the frustrated Tei, who happened to be right where the lemur had been before he moved. Kuyose stuck his tongue at the two.

"Nice try, but better luck next time!"  
  
Kuyose heard footsteps off in the distance, so he decided to descend deeper into the cavern.  
  
Kara was a bit farther behind both Tei and Ryu-ko, and was constantly trailing them from behind. As she followed the flickering little light, it all of a sudden disappeared into the darkness.

"Okay....Okay...do not panic...do not panic. They must have turned around a corner."  
  
Luckily, when Kara went and turned to the corner, she saw that light again and, with a sigh of relief, she started to walk again. But this time, she sensed a movement out of the corner of her eye and started to concentrate her chakra into her left hand.  
  
"Okay...there's definitely something wrong here....I think I just saw something move.."  
  
Then Kara decided to move along a bit faster so that she wouldn't get lost in the dark cave.

"Sorry, Tei..."  
  
Ryu-ko rolled off of Tei, regaining her breath. That little... She jumps to her feet, hand glancing off of Tei's shoulder so not to topple right back over.

'I'm not done yet.'

She barely glanced at Tei as she again lunged after the lemur. There had to be another way... She stepped carefully, making sure of her footing. A slip-up here could put her out of commission.

Karma looked into the darkness, shaking her head in disapproval.  
  
"When will they learn? They are not going to catch Kuyose unless they work together. That is the whole point of this drill, but they don't seem to get it. They can't catch him just by running after him blindly. They need to use teamwork to come up with a plan. I mean....Kuyose isn't one of the smartest animals ever, just one of the fastest. They should be able to catch him with a good plan. Well, they should hurry it up in any case. Sheesh. And I thought Kakashi's team was bad about teamwork..."  
  
Karma continued to look into the darkness as she heard the chimes of the bells in the distance.  
  
Standing up, Tei slowly waited for Kara.

'This is not going to work. We need a plan. If we can set a trap. That's it! I get it now. One of us can feign fatigue while the others wait in hiding when Kuyose comes to taunt us, one of the people hiding performs a kawarmi and exchange themselves for Kuyose. Then Kuyose can be grabbed by the person that was waiting in the shadows. Now, where are the other two? I need to inform them of my plan...'

While Kara was running, she sees Tei.

"Hey! Tei, did you see Ryu-ko anywhere? She should be near here some where..."

The genin slowly looked around for their new teammate... 

"I heard her up ahead. I think I have a plan for catching that lemur. It needs three people though. I just wish Ryu-ko would slow down."

Tei began jogging. He paused when he came to the crossroads.  
  
"I don't know where they went. My head is still ringing."  
  
Straining, Tei tried to sort out the direction of the sound but it was no use.  
  
"Do you know, Kara?" 

Ryu-ko halted, breathing slowed as she strained to hear the lemur. Faint sounds could be heard both in front of her and behind her.

'Hn.'  
  
She turned just as Tei jogs into view with Kara following close behind.  
  
"Yo'. Sorry, but I've lost the lemur...."

As the three converse about how to catch the lemur, Kuyose comes into view. He looks at them and starts taunting.  
  
"Well, losers! I am right over here!"

He sticks his tongue out.

'It is time they put their plan into action.'

Karma thought. It was now up to the three to catch him soon. She decided to give them a few minutes....then she would end the drill.  
  
Tei started forward with a menacing grin. He then paused, clutching his Achilles' tendon and crying out in pain. Moving towards the lemur determined, he then fell three feet shy of his target. He whimpered and swore at Kuyose, hoping the others had taken their marks and continued to lay face first on the cold stone.

Kuyose pointed and started laughing at Tei.  
  
"HAHAHAHA! You loser! You are NEVER gonna catch me! HAHAHA!"  
  
It was then that Kuyose's arrogance became obvious, and now would be the best time for the other two to catch him....he was off guard!

Ryu-ko leaped forward, fingers barely touching the lemur. As it dives out of the way, she moved and cut off the means of retreat for Kuyose. Now there was an opening for Kara...

Kuyose saw that Ryu-ko was attempting to get him. At the very last minute, he jumped out of Ryu-ko's way, and stuck his tongue at her. While in the air, he looked behind him....and saw she had moved...  
  
"Holy Crap!!!!!!!!"  
  
There was now a big opening for Kara to dive for Kuyose, and end the drill. Kara then got ready and reaches for Kuyose.  
  
"Hehehehe, GOTCHA!!!!!"  
  
Kara then lunges at Kuyose hoping to grab that annoying little lemur.

To her surprise, she caught Kuyose.  
  
"......YOU DID IT! YOU THREE CAUGHT THAT LEMUR! I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE A TEAM OF GENINS THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BE CAPABLE OF IT!"

Karma cheered happily at her genin.  
  
The lemur breaks free of Kara's grip and kicks the ground.  
  
"These guys are pretty good, boss! Hope you train them well."  
  
In an instant, Kuyose disappears in a poof of smoke. Karma runs over to the three genin, and gives them all a big group hug.  
  
"You guys have talent! I am going to make you all stronger than you were before. Now, sit down. We will all meditate."  
  
All four of them sat down in the cavern, and went silent. After many hours of listening to Karma's directions, and from chasing Kuyose, the three genin felt stronger.

_-cutscene-_

Tei did not enjoy the meditation. It occurred to him it was more the setting than the actual act that did not serve him well. His eyes had adjusted to allow him to use the bio-luminescence of the fish in the puddle beside him to see most of his surroundings. Tei reached within himself and believed he had the will to continue down his path as a ninja. He was less certain that his body would keep up. Karma's instructions on meditating had stopped a while back and his meditation ended soon thereafter. Tei wished that he knew exactly the events that would follow the meditation and considered them thoroughly before resorting back to a deeper reflection on himself.

'I know the Path of a Ninja is not easy. It is bent on growth within one person, often at the cost of others. So far I have not caused anyone any harm other than collateral damage in training. I fear the day I will be called to kill for my village. Knowing my sacrifice for power how can I hope to achieve moral satisfaction in ruining someone else's entire life work and even their life. I am beginning to reconsider my passions. Maybe the ninja way is not for me? But what of the other ninja, those that believe they are superior. Those that prey on those that have not made the ninja path. Those that support the ninja by supplying food or clothing. These people must be protected. These people are my cause, my duty, my purpose as a ninja!'  
  
Tei snapped out of his self reflection when he heard his jounin rise from the ground. He feigned deep meditation and glanced upward at his teacher, pondering his next steps into furthering his education...

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko's meditation didn't go very well either... In that time of inner reflection, she could only think about her lack of past and painful memories of her old team. Plus, one of her fears was to sink too far into meditation. The black oblivion of her soul could swallow her up, and never let her go...  
  
At the sound of her sensei's movements, she opens her eyes. A rapid glance around the area shows that she was still in the caverns-that nothing had happened. There was still the lingering doubt, but it was all Ryu-ko could do to shove it away.

'No signs of weakness. None.'

_-cutscene-_

Kara was lucky. She had already made her peace with her past, and had grown to accept the inevitable fate of everyone. Her meditation was merely a reflection of all the happy times she had shared with her family before they were killed.

_-cutscene-  
_

"Ok! I have made it so that you guys have unlocked more of your potential by reaching deep within your souls. That drill was to get you to work together as a team, and was to make you think fast. I saw that you, Ryu-ko, have the talent I am looking for in all my students. I have given you all this new strength as a gift."  
  
Without another word, Karma stood up.  
  
"It's time to head back to the village. Remember to meet this time every week here, so that we can continue our training. Next time, I shall teach you a new technique!"  
  
Karma once again vanished, leaving her genin to find their own way back to the village.

_-cutscene-  
_

Tei, Ryu-ko, and Kara walked into the village; dust-covered and exhausted from the long day's worth of chasing that damn lemur. Kara and Tei stopped, both living near each other and closer to this side of the village.

"Got to go! Great meeting you!"

Kara waved happily, then ran off somewhere.

Tei and Ryu-ko stood there for a long moment, and then Tei glanced over at his new teammate.

"It was nice training with you. See you next week."

That said, he just as calmly walked off. Ryu-ko shrugged mentally. Mysterious guy.

Ah, well. They all had their secrets.

_-cutscene-  
_

Taking in the sights as she was, Ryu-ko never noticed the shadowy figure that happened to be following her. Not until she was stopped by that same figure.

A hand reached out, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around in a painful manner. She was spun right off her feet, and she stared at the man who now stood before her.

He was tall, and about medium built. Hair was raven black, and worn in a style that sorta' reminded her of Sasuke for some reason. But what she noticed most was those...those same blood-red eyes that haunted her worst nightmares...

"..............."

Her mouth opened, yet not sound came out. As she stared at the so-called stranger, a memory resurfaced. One of the most painful ones of yet.

'_SLICE._

_The kunai's blade sliced directly across her face, barely missing her eyes and continuing down to about mid-cheek. She stumbled backward because of the pain, her left foot hitting the slippery and damp edge of the ledge. _

"_Yyyyyaaaaaa!"_

_A scream of absolute terror was the last thing that escaped her, as she slipped and fell into the mist. The last thing that she saw before her vision faded was a young boy literally screaming her name...and his demon-eyed brother leering at her in the background.'_

Breath coming fast, Ryu-ko was frozen at the sight of the monster that was the cause of all her miseries.

"I thought that I had killed you, little Yoru. It seemed that I had been mistaken."

Uchiha Itachi reached down, picking up the genin by the shoulder. His grip was agonizingly painful as he dug in his fingers sharply.

"Should I finish it? Or shall I..."

A strange smile crossed his face, and he smirked at the helpless girl.

"...find mercy and allow you to live?"

"Y...you killed them all."

"That I did."

He dropped Ryu-ko, and she managed to scramble to her feet. Itachi's smirk never faded from his face, and he lashed out again...this time grabbing her by the throat.

"How's my little brother doing? Is he still running?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!!!"

Pausing, Itachi tilted his head slightly to the side.

"Do you even remember who my brother is?"

Unable to speak because of the constraining hand on her neck, Ryu-ko just stared at him with wide gray eyes.

"Hmph. So, you've lost your memories. That makes things interesting."

Ryu-ko didn't like the look on Itachi's face, and she began to struggle wildly in order to get out of his grasp. He only smiled wider when he saw this.

"Ah. Am I hurting you? Here, let me help."

Itachi slammed a closed fist into Ryu-ko's gut with as much strength the he could muster without hurting her too badly. As the fire-dart of agony ripped through her, he set her down and put her so that her back was against the side of a building.

"Stay away from my brother. I've marked you..."

Almost gently, Itachi traced a finger down the scar crossing her face...

"...so therefore you are mine."

In a swirl of black, Itachi walked away. Ryu-ko laid there, staring blankly at her surroundings. Her mind was a blur, shocked to find that there was someone that knew about her. Yet she could feel a burning hatred pulsing inside of her, and she knew that the next time she confronted Itachi...it would end in bloodshed...

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: I know, I know. I promised that Sakura would start getting on to Ryu-ko/Yoru in this chapter about Sasuke. But when I got done with the training, I realized that the chapter was far too long and that I needed to cut something out. Since the meeting with Itachi was an important event, I had to cut out Sakura. But don't worry. She is going to get almost an entire chapter dedicated to her and Ryu-ko/Yoru. Whew.

o 0 I made Uchiha Itachi scary. Didn't mean too, it just happened.

Plans for Chapter Six:

(1) Sakura starts a war against Ryu-ko...while Ryu-ko doesn't even know what the hell is going on!!! Poor Ryu-ko!!!

(2) Ryu-ko and her teammates learn a new technique.

(3) Needles! The attack of a missing-nin who uses needles!!! AHHHH!!!!


	9. Ministory 2

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #2**

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**Ryu-ko and the Fishing Trip**

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**Written by: Shiinji**

Boredom.

The worst thing that could ever happen to a person.

Or so any 13-year-old person would think.

Ryu-ko sat under the tree in the shrine's yard, staring off into space. It was a fine summer day, but even that was lost to her while she thought about how **_bored_** she actually was.

Team 7 walks by, every one of them carrying fishing poles and supplies. She stared at them, thinking. "Hey guys!!" They look to her. "Where you headin' off to?"

"We're goin' fishin'!" Naruto answered with his trademark cheerfulness. Sakura was unnoticed, but she was giving the dark-haired girl a glare that could incinerate. "We have an extra pole. Wanna' come?"

Of course, Naruto would ask that. While Sakuya beat her fist in anger on Naruto's head, Ryu-ko thought about it. She's never been fishing before. It sounded to at least be a diversion.

"Sure." She said as she walked over to them. Sasuke gave her the extra pole he had been carrying, and she fell in beside him. "I wouldn't think that you would go." He said, keeping his eyes forward as they headed to the lake nearby.

"I'm that bored." She answered, and then gave him a side-long grin. "And who knows? Maybe we'll catch a lot of fish and have a great dinner."

**Later that day...**

The four genin sat on the edge of the dock, lines case and waiting for a bite. Ryu-ko watched the little fishies swim around in the waters, cursing silently whenever one decided not to bite her line or to just steal her bait. Evil fishies.

"Any luck yet?" Sasuke asked, shielding his eyes from the glaring sun that was starting to set. Having been there all day without even a bite, they were all tired. "Nope."

Suddenly, Naruto let out a whoop as his line begun up jerk and try to get away from him. He leaped to his feet, trying to reel in whatever he had hooked. There was a sudden huge jerk, and Naruto was pulled into the water head-first. Coming back to the surface, he saw that he had, in fact, caught Kakashi.

The soaking wet sensei glared at his three genin and Karma's student. "You know, all of you had training today."

They all look to one another, and realized that they had forgotten what day it was.

They were smart. They ran.

--------------

A/N: Back again. This little ministory was a lot of fun to type, in my opinion. Now...I gotta' go help Kadiska-sama with Chapter Six. Later!


	10. Ministory 3

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #3**

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**Ryu-ko and the Troubles of Money**

****

**Written by: Shiinji**

'Hmm...hhmmm...hmmmm...mmmmhhhhhmmm.' Ryu-ko hummed to herself as she walked boredly through the Konoha's streets. She had what amounted to ten dollars, and she wanted to find something special to buy with it. "There has to be something around here." Shops passed by, but nothing looked interesting.

Passing by a ramen house, she notices her two teammates, Tei and Kara, sitting together and laughing at a random joke as they ate. 'Well, at least they're having fun.' She sighed, knowing that she had to find a good place to shop before Jounin Karma arrived with a new mission for the genins to accomplish.

Moving on, Ryu-ko saw a familiar face in the crowd to her right. "Hey! Hey Suijin!" She yelled, attracting the attention of the good-natured rogue genin. He waved right back, and then placed a finger to his lips and pointed at her teammates; indicating that he was going to do something. With the slightest nod of her head, she continued on.

'Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing...hey...wait a minute...eh....nothing...' She looked at the money she held, and sighed. Wow, this really was worthwhile when she couldn't find anything to buy.

Wiping sweat from her forehead, Ryu-ko dropped the money into the donation box at a local medical building she passed by. They could probably find something to do with it more than she could.

_**Later that night....**_

"Ya' know, I could have always bought another shuriken or kunai..."

-----------

A/N: I'M BACK!!!! Shiinji here again. Kadiska was too busy to update that chapter as she normally does, so I've stepped in with 'nother ministory. Geez, someone else needs to start typing these things other than just me. Anyone interested?


	11. Ministory 4

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #4**

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Ryuko and the Festival of Lights

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Written by: Komei

Ryu-ko sighed as the sun began to set and the festival lights started to turn on. Tonight was the night of the Festival of Lights, and she was going to go just to watch Sasuke and everyone else have fun. Being around so many people was not her thing and she hated kids, so this was not the best night to do stuff. 

Ryu-ko walked down the long brown path towards the brightly lit village. In the distance, four dark figures stood. Ryu-ko looked at them and frowned. She never liked too much light especially when the sun is behind everyone.

"Hey Ryu-ko!" Kara yelled, "Hurry up the festival is going to start soon. You need to hurry before all the little kids come!"

Ryu-ko's eyes went straight to the Death Eye as she stared at Kara. Kara backed off in fear when Ryu-ko held up a fist. Slowly Ryu-ko put her fist down and took a deep breath. Calming herself, Ryu-ko walked next to Sasuke.

The group walked down the path talking about everything. Suijin and Kara talked about how cool the festival is going to be, Tei and Sasuke talked about their weapons ((A/N It's typical guy thing, I guess.)), and Ryu-ko put her hands in her pocket and stared at the black sky, keeping her thoughts to herself.

The darkness of the night spread through the sky like a stampede of animals would run from a storm. Suijin ran for the first game.

"Come one, come all... Hey sir, would you like to try our game? All you do is use this baseball and hit the bottles over here." The man behind the counter said to Suijin.

Kara ran up to Suijin and grabbed his arm. "Why'd you run away?"

"You could win your girlfriend a prize if you knock down all the bottles," the man said pointing at the now blushing Kara.

Suijin paid the man a dollar and threw the ball. The ball sped past the target as Sasuke came by.

"Man, you can't aim, can you?" He chuckled.

"I'd like to see you try and hit the bottles!" Suijin said angrily.

Sasuke paid the man a dollar and threw the ball. The ball hit the targets and knocked all the bottles down. Suijin's eyes grew wide in amazement; then he looked at Sasuke in anger.

"What prize do you want, sir?" The man asked.

"I'll take the wolf." He said.

"Wow, Sasuke, it's so pretty!" Kara said staring at the wolf.

"Here you can have it. Hey, where's Ryu-ko?" Sasuke handed Kara the wolf and looked around for Ryu-ko.

"Excuse me, have you seen my parents?!" a little boy cried.

"Huh? Oh...no, sorry," Ryu-ko said trying to sneak away from this annoying chibi.

"Can you help me?"

"...Sure..." Ryu-ko sighed, "So, what's you're name?"

The boy cheered up and said, "My mommy calls me Riin."

Ryu-ko started walking away and Riin followed. Ryu-ko walked fast, causing Riin to run. Riin tripped and fell flat on his face and started to cry.

Ryu-ko stared at Riin in horror. She had to get away from here; everyone was giving her the evil eye. To her chibis are annoying and trouble making.

All of a sudden a bunch of chibis started to run towards her. "Get her!" They yelled as Ryu-ko started to run away from them.

Meanwhile Kara, Sasuke, Tei, and Suijin were playing darts. The boards were on the other side of the stand. Everyone concentrated on the board ready to throw the next dart, when they heard a familiar scream.

Ryu-ko ran by the group, who was to busy concentrating on their game. "Do you think we should help her?" Tie asked.

"Maybe after this game!" Kara said, throwing another dart.

"You just want to keep playing 'cause you're winning," Suijin said angrily.

"I'm beating you, but Sasuke's winning." Kara said pointing at Sasuke.

Suijin looked at Sasuke in anger. Where Sasuke stood were at least twenty-stuffed animals. Sasuke won every single game at the whole festival.

Later that day, sometime after the Ryu-ko getting chased, the group went to Ryu-ko's home to see if she was still alive. Kara knocked on the door and Ryu-ko answered.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully.

Everyone sighed in relief that Ryu-ko wasn't angry. "Would you guys like to come in? I made Ramen."

"Sure!" They said walking inside.

**CRASH!!!**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!" Everyone screamed.

"I guess she is angry at us," Kara said rubbing her head.

"You bet I am!!" Ryu-ko gave them an evil smile.

---------

A/N: Hey peoples! The name is Komei and I bring you the fourth ministory. Since Shiinji needs help, I will be writing some of the ministories. Hope you enjoyed this one. See ya!


	12. Ministory 5

**A Daughters Honor**

**Ministory #5**

**Ryu-ko and the Glomping lessons**

Ryu-ko, Kara, and Tei all set off to the cave where they once trained with Karma, their instructor. Their memories still clear on what happened that day, but why they were going back was a mystery. Today was suppose to be the day they were able to take a break from training, but for some reason Karma told them they were going to have a private meeting, and that their day off of training would be the following day.

Ryu-ko, Kara, and Tei stood in front of the cave in which they would train. Kara stared at the darkness wondering what the lesson for today was.

Karma sat in a tree watching as her students walked up to the gate that blocked them from the cave. She let out a small smile before jumping to the ground to greet her students.

Karma landed on the ground behind the three curious students who jumped into the air in terror. Tei, Kara, and Ryu-ko turned around to find their bedazzled instructor holding the back of her head and smiling.

"Hello! Today you are going to have a special training, but you will all be split up throughout the cave. Each of you will be put in a certain spot and will not move until I say go. Questions?" Karma asked.

Kara raised her hand slowly.

"Yes Kara," Karma said cheerfully.

"Do we seriously have to be split up? I mean I'm not afraid of the dark, but..."

"You're scared of the dark!" Tei teased.

"Am not! I just hate to be alone in the dark!" Kara said angrily.

"Oh, don't worry I'll protect you from the evil monsters and spiders inside the cave!" Tei teased again.

"Really!" Kara said sarcastically.

"Quite teasing Kara, Tei. Ok Tei I want you to roam around the cave for five minutes and then Kara will go."

With that said Tie enter the dark cave.

Karma then told Ryu-ko and Kara the reason they were really here, "Ok girls. Today's lesson really is a glomping lesson. Today I will teach you how to glomp someone. The target for today is the one and only Tei."

Karma then began to whisper how to glomp a guy. The girls giggled while they listened, but became very impatient with this fun filled lesson. Kara and Ryu-ko were dismissed into the cave to find and glomp Tei the best they can.

Ryu-ko and Kara parted making sure they came into contact every now and then to tell each other if they found Tei or not. Kara strolled in the dark hearing spooky noises such as laughs and footsteps.

Ryu-ko on the other hand ran for the noises that she heard, but this only caused her to accidentally hit a rock. She stumbled to her feet and decided that this was far harder than the lemur chase they had to do.

Tei stood in his spot waiting to be found when he too began to hear footsteps, but it wasn't from one person it was from multiple. He focused on a certain spot and saw a dark figure come towards him.

"Kara, is that you?" he said.

Nothing.

Kara slowly walked up to the dark figure in front of her. When she realized it was Tei she ran up to him and glomped him, but she soon found herself on top of Tei kissing him.

When Kara glomped Tei she made him lose his balance and ended up on the floor. The way Kara hit Tei caused them both to kiss each other.

"Whoa! Kara, where did you learn to kiss like that?" Tei said as Kara stood up and pulled him to his feet.

"Suijin taught me, but I didn't mean to. I swear. I was just following my..." Kara clamped her hands over her mouth and stopped herself from saying what she was about to say.

"Following what?" Tei asked.

All of a sudden Ryu-ko glomped Tei and this too caused him to lose his balance. Tei wasn't on guard for Ryu-ko, but Kara was different. If he could see he would have been able to withstand Kara's blow.

"What are you people doing?" Tei asked.

Karma came from one of the corridors, "They were just following the instructions I gave them. The lesson is now over; you may leave."

"What lesson? They practically jumped on me. You said all we had to do was find each other, but I was jumped," Tei complained.

"Glomping lessons are so much fun! Right Ryu-ko?" Kara said.

"What?" Tei said angrily running after the girls.

"RUN!" They said as Tei chased them out the cave and back to the village.

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A/N: Well, here's another mini-story provided by Komei. Enjoy.


	13. Ministory 6

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #6**

Ryu-ko and the Secret

Naruto walked down the path his head held high in happiness as he waited for his one true dream to come true. On the other side of the path Sasuke and Ryu-ko came walking towards him. Naruto thought fast as he looked nervously around.

He saw some brush next to him and decided to jump into it. He stared at the two figures coming towards him hoping, praying that none of them would see him. Why he was hiding was still a mystery to him, but it was worth it.

Sasuke and Ryu-ko stopped in front of the brush Naruto was hiding in. Sasuke put his face closed to the now blushing Ryu-ko as she looked into his red eyes. Sasuke and Ryu-ko's lips pressed tightly against each other.

Sasuke slid his tongue across Ryu-ko's lips urging her to part them. Ryu-ko took the hint and opened her lips letting Sasuke's tongue explore the inside of her mouth. Sasuke played with Ryu-ko's tongue who slowly, but surely joined in.

Naruto stared in shock at the two genin who were kissing. Naruto's eyes grew wider every second. His mouth dropped and drool was now seeping down his chin and onto his shirt.

After a while Ryu-ko broke the kiss and said bye to Sasuke. Sasuke stood in the spot where him and Ryu-ko kissed, waving his hand at Ryu-ko. When Ryu-ko disappeared into the distance Sasuke turned to the brush where the stunned Naruto was.

Sasuke walked up to Naruto, grabbed him by his collar, and lifted him into the air. Sasuke stared at Naruto angrily. Now Naruto, the biggest blabbermouth in the village, knew their secret.

"If you tell a single soul I swear I'm going to kill you." With that said Sasuke put Naruto down and walked off.

Sakura came humming down the path in which the still stunned Naruto stood. Sakura stopped and stared at Naruto. Naruto told her what he saw and she became very angry.

The word spread through Konoha within that day. The next morning Sasuke and Ryu-ko came strolling down the street together. People moved out of the two genins way and began to point and whisper to the person next to them.

A little boy and girl stood on the side of the street and pointed at Sasuke and Ryu-ko and began to sing.

"Sasuke and Ryu-ko sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

'What are they singing?' Ryu-ko thought to herself.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. That's not all, that's not all, here comes Sasuke..."

"You know what... one day you will be kissing her, and you'll like it." Ryu-ko said as she stared evilly at the little kids.

Both kids looked at each other then ran to their mothers crying and chanting, "Mommy, mommy I don't want cooties."

Naruto came walking down the path to dense to see Sasuke and Ryu-ko right in front of him. Sasuke hid in the crowd deserting Ryu-ko. He snuck through the crowd until he was even with Naruto.

In that split second Sasuke jumped out and began to beat up Naruto. Naruto some how escaped from Sasuke's grasps and ran down the street. Sasuke then joined Ryu-ko and they walked home.

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A/N: This is another mini-story brought to you by Komei. If you want to read other stories please feel free to check out my account. Just look up Komei.


	14. Ministory 7

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #7**

**Ryu-ko and the Pizza**

Ryu-ko lounged in her chair throwing Kunai at a picture of Sakura. Next to her stood a small table with more Kunai lying on it. Ryu-ko went to pick up another kunai, and throw it when Sasuke came running into her room.

Sasuke was breathing heavily as he slightly bent his knees and caught his breath. He stood up and took a deep breath.

"I'm having a pizza party, wanna come?" He said now standing next to Ryu-ko.

"Sure, let me get ready." Ryu-ko pushed Sasuke out of her room and put on something nice before she let him back in.

The door slowly opened. Ryu-ko peeked her head out to find Sasuke pacing up and down the hall. Sasuke had never seen such a beautiful girl in his entire life.

"Ok, let's go!" Ryu-ko said grabbing Sasuke by his arm and dragging him out the shrine.

Sasuke looked at the somewhat anxious Ryu-ko. He smiled in happiness at what he thought of as his girlfriend. 'I know. I'll pick her up and carry her to my house,' He thought as he let out an evilish smile.

Sasuke lifted Ryu-ko into the air and carried her the rest of the way home, which wasn't very far. Ryu-ko giggled; trying so hard to get Sasuke to put her down.

**Meanwhile...**

Kara, Suijin, Naruto, and Tei were making themselves at home. Naruto was searching for Ramen; Kara was sitting between Suijin and Tei talking to them. Tei was staring at Kara who's laughing at all of Suijin's jokes. Anger filled inside him.

Sasuke opened the door to his house and everyone stopped what they were doing to greet Ryu-ko. Naruto quickly snuck out of the kitchen so he didn't get caught.

Sasuke stared at Tei who was about to strangle Suijin. "Ok, who's ready for some food?"

"The pizza's not here yet!" Kara said poking Suijin.

"Ok, then..." Sasuke was cut off by the doorbell.

Sasuke opened the door to see a short chubby man standing on his porch. The man was wearing a white shirt that said, "Ishito's Pizza Service!" in black. His pants were also black. Covering the man's eyes were thick glasses (Kara: The ones you would see a nerd wear).

"Hello, here's your pizza sir!" The man said in a nerdy tone of voice...

"Thanks!" Sasuke said giving handing the man some money.

Sasuke closed the door and put the pizza on a small table in the middle of the furniture. Everyone sat down. Kara was once again in between Tei and Suijin, Ryu-ko sat on Sasuke's lap, and Naruto sat on the floor.

"Ladies first!" Suijin said pushing Kara towards the pizza.

Kara opened the box and found anchovies scattered all over the pizza. Sasuke became angry. He wasted his money on pizza he didn't even order.

Tei now finally had the chance to jump Suijin, which is what he did. Kara stared at the two genin; trying to stop them. Tei and Suijin stood up punching each other. Both genin lost their balance and hit the table the pizza was on.

The pizza went flying in the air and hit Suijin on the head. The room filled with laughter as Suijin grinned and then was grossed out. How much he hated seafood. Tei got up and stood next to Kara who tried to stop herself from laughing.

Naruto walked up to Suijin and began to take one slice of pizza after another (Kara: Off of Suijin's head) and began to eat.

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A/N: I'm back. Komei here bringing you another ministory. Hope you liked.


	15. Ministory 8

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #8**

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**Ryu-ko and the Unexpected Visitor**

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**Written by: Komei and Kadiska**

Ryu-ko walked through Konoha looking for food to buy. Her eyes were mainly looking for Sasuke who had run off to do a little training before the day ended. The sun was almost gone and she quickly bought some items to make a sandwich for herself and Sasuke.

Ryu-ko walked down the brown path to Sasuke's house, when she stumbles upon Naruto. Naruto was covered from head to toe with pots and pans. Ryu-ko stared at him trying to hold in a laugh.

"Wh...why are you carrying pots and pans, Naruto?" Ryu-ko asked in curiosity.

"It's some stupid training thingy that Kakashi told me to do." Naruto stopped in front of Ryu-ko.

"Can you walk with me? I need someone to talk to," Said Ryu-ko, who was bored.

Naruto nodded, and left with Ryu-ko. Ryu-ko stuck her hands in the pockets of her hakama pants, barley talking.

Sasuke's house appeared in the distance. When the two genin got to the house Ryu-ko pointed in the direction in which they came.

"Hey, Naruto I think that's a pot over there," Ryu-ko said still pointing, "Here I'll hold those while you go get it!"

Like an idiot Naruto fell for another trick. He left in search of the pot while Ryu-ko slipped away into Sasuke's house and locked the door behind her.

Ryu-ko made the sandwiches and ate hers. Sasuke has yet to return and the moon was high above the house in which Ryu-ko would sleep.

Ryu-ko wrote a small message and left it taped to the door. She wanted to let Sasuke know she was going to stay at his place tonight.

Ryu-ko yawned and went upstairs. She opened the door to Sasuke's room and saw Itachi. She closed the door and rubbed her eyes, and once again opened the door to see Itachi.

"One second!" She said holding up a finger.

Ryu-ko went to the nearby restroom and splashed her face with cold water. After she dried her face with a towel she pinched herself.

"OW!" Ryu-ko now knew this wasn't a dream.

She went back to the room and opened the door to find Itachi there. She turned around and saw the missing-nin standing in front of her.

**WARNING: PG 13. Viewers' discretion....**

Itachi pushed Ryu-ko onto the bed and laid on top of her. He firmly wrapped a hand around his throat and brushed his lips against hers.

Ryu-ko clamped her mouth shut trying not to let Itachi get his way. Ryu-ko grabbed the arm that surrounded her neck and tried to get it loose.

She was unable to move her head and was now lost in fear. Itachi smiled as he slid his free hand down Ryu-ko's side. He wanted to go under her pants, but they were too tight.

Itachi frowned in anger as he stared at the lovely girl under him. He kissed her lips once more, his tongue now demanding to be let in. This made Ryu-ko clamp her mouth shut harder, but Itachi's power was too great.

He made a fist and struck Ryu-ko who was now screaming in pain. Now's his chance. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out as he went for another kiss. His tongue explored the inside of her mouth as she struggled to get free.

A tear slid down Ryu-ko's cheek as Itachi began to grope her. She hated Itachi for what he's doing, but she hated herself more because she couldn't stop him.

Itachi gave a final kiss as he the front door creaked open.

"Bye-bye sweetheart. Oh, yeah, before I go. If you tell anyone about what I did to you tonight, I swear I'll kill Sasuke. Heed my warning if you want your lover boy to live." Itachi vanished.

"Ryu-ko, I'm home," Sasuke said.

'What time is it? The sun's out, but how? Was I dreaming or was it real?' Ryu-ko thought to herself as she walked to the living room to greet the love of her life.

Ryu-ko gave Sasuke a hug, and stared at the window. In the distance stood Itachi an evil look on his face.

Then and there Ryu-ko knew that it wasn't a dream. A sign of fear appeared on her face as she thought about the warning Itachi gave her.

'_Oh, yeah, before I go. If you tell anyone about what I did to you tonight I swear I'll kill Sasuke. Heed my warning if you want your lover boy to live.'_

Ryu-ko closed her eyes...

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Komei: Ok, just to let everyone know... -yells from the top of a mountain- I WROTE MINI-STORY #8! -off the mountain- Ok, the PG 13 part might be a little strange since I'm still new at typing those things, but it did come out pretty good.

Kadiska: -holds up Sasuke and Gaara plushies- The ideas were mine. I just had her type it since she wanted to. Oh, and the reason why I uploaded all these ministories is because the next chapter is taking a little longer than I expected for it to be, and the fact that I've grown weary at staring at all the ministories on my computer...so I posted them up! Don't worry, I'll finish the next chapter soon!!!

Komei: Hey! I had some ideas too.

Kadiska: Ok, some of the ideas were also Komei's, but the rest were mine. Well hope you enjoyed reading this story. In the words of Naruto:

Komei and Kadiska: BYE!


	16. Behind the Scenes of A Daughter's Honor

**Naruto: A Daughter's Honor**

**Behind the Scenes**

Director: ...AAAND CUT!

Yoru: -sigh- That took...forever!

Naruto: Get this damn ramen away from me! If I ever have to eat another bowl of this shit, I'm gonna' puke!!!

Itachi: -lights a cigarette- -looks supremely cool, in the bad boy way-

Sasuke: -throws an arm around Yoru- I heard that you had an exam next week. Want some private tutoring?

Yoru: -giggle- Sure.

-They both walk off-

Itachi: -doesn't even notice-

Sakura: -has eyes only for Rock Lee-

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Itachi: -walks onto the set, sipping his coffee- I can't believe you're going to killed off my character.

Yoru: It's your fault. You auditioned for the bad guy.

Itachi: Well, I couldn't let Naraku get it, could I?!

Yoru: Hmm. Good point.

Sasuke: ...A lot of people would probably enjoy seeing him die a gruesome death.

Yoru: Another good point.

Itachi: Indeed, but that's why we have security guards.

Kara: You know what? Maybe we shouldn't kill you. 'Cause I'm starting to like you!

Everyone: -stares at Kara-

Suijin: ......what about me?... -Sniffs-

Kara: -feels bad now-

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Yoru: -spying on Kakashi- How does he get his hair to stay like that?

Kakashi: -standing in front of a mirror- -pulls out a five-gallon jar of hair gel-

Yoru: Oh. –question has been answered-

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Tei: -is playing with his matches- -accidentally lights one, and the set goes up in flames- -stares at the fire in shock-

Kara: Tei, those are REAL MATCHES!!!!

Tei: Oops?

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Kara: Happy birthday, Neji!

Yoru: Okay, everyone. We need you to leave.

Suijin: Yah, help me go and get the present I got. It's kinda' large and heavy.

-Everyone except for Kara, Yoru, and Neji leave-

Yoru: Close your eyes so that we can get your surprise ready!

Neji: ...... -closes his eyes-

Kara: -runs fingers through his hair- You know, you have hair to die for!

-SNIP-

Neji: -hair now is short- ?...!...What the fuck!?

Yoru: Uh...I think you cut it a little short...

Kara: I know. -cheerfully- But doesn't he look a lot cuter?

Neji: -chases the girls out of the room with the intent of killing them-

Yoru and Kara: -run by everyone else, who was returning with the presents- RUN!!!

Suijin: Huh? Where are you going?

Neji: -CRASH-

Suijin: Uh...who are you?

Neji: It's me. Look what those bitches did to my hair! -holds his hair-

Yoru and Kara: -from a distance- I know, aren't we? He does look cuter now, though.

Neji: -jumps to his feet- -starts chasing the girls again-

Yoru and Kara: AHHHHH!!!! -runs off-

Temari: -walks in- Hey, Neji! I like what you did with your hair!

Neji: Huh? Really?

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Kakashi: If I put on this cloak, maybe no one will recognize me. -puts on a brown cloak, and then puts up the hood. - -arm is held in front of his face. - -walks down the street-

Kara: HI KAKASHI!! -waves hand-

Kakashi: WHAT THE FUCK!? -glares- How the hell did you know it was me?

Kara: Well, you're the only one with silver hair around here, silly. I mean, c'mon. How smart do you have to be to notice that?

Kakashi: -DEATH GLARE-

Kara: -sweatdrop- Uh, gotta' go. I have a...let me see...appointment! Bye!!! OH SUIJIN!!! –runs off-

Kakashi: -shakes his head- Now where can I go and buy hair-dye?

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Author's Note: This is for humor reasons only. Don't hurt me, I'll work on the main story now... -wanders off- REVIEW!!!


	17. Ministory 9

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #6**

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**Ryu-ko and the Dance**

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**Written by: Shiinji**

'What's this?' Thought Ryu-ko as she tried to look over the heads of several academy students and genin who were crowded around a sign on a wall. It said:

--Shinobi Dance

-All ninja stationed within the Konoha Village are invited. Formal dress, only.

-Will serve food and drink.

-A requirement for Genin currently undergoing training under a Jounin.

Damn, that meant that she absolutely had to go. Even if she tried to slip away, ya' know that her teacher would catch her. The only comfort that the intrepid Ryu-ko could have was the humor at seeing Naruto in a tie, of all things, and how everyone's favorite Uchiha would look.

Ryu-ko adjusted the collar of the jacket she wore over the dress she borrowed from Kara. In the cold chill outside, she would freeze due to the thinness of the dress. "I cannot believe that Kara actually bought this thing. I mean; sheesh..."

She shifted uncomfortably and mumbled faint curses under her breath as she left the room. Waiting were her Jounin, Karma, and her teammate, Kara. Tei was still no where to be seen... "Yo'. Where's Tei?"

Karma smiled when she saw the look on Ryu-ko's face, and guessed the cause. "He'll meet us at the dance. My, Ryu-ko...you look just lovely..." "Nice try...it ain't gonna' work." Ryu-ko snorted, and Kara laughed. She threw the other girl a dirty look.

"Oh, and I expect for Suijin to certainly be waiting for the first dance." She said, causing Kara to blush a deep red and stutter nervously. "Alright, Ryu-ko. Enough picking on your teammate. We need to go..."

At the dance, Ryu-ko stood away from everyone else in one corner of the square with Kara, and they just watched everyone else. It had been decided to hold the dance outside, since it was such a lovely night. 'I wonder where Sasuke is at...'

Rock Lee walks over. "Hey, would either of you two fine ladies want to dance with me?"

"Ewww! Icky! Gross!" Were the responses of the two girl genin and Kara hit the thick-browed young man hard on his head. Ryu-ko shoved him away as hard as she could, and he ended up going flying into Sakura.

Hey, it all had a good thing with it. Sakura accept his dance proposal and they disappeared into the crowd of dancers.

"HEY!!! EVERYONE!!! LOOK AT ME!!!" A voice rang out above the crowd, and everyone looked over to the pain-in-the-ass Naruto. Seeing that everyone was now paying attention to him, he began to do the FUNKY CHICKEN!

'Oh, god...' Thought Ryu-ko as she stood there, slowing shaking her head. Kara was cracking up, a hand on Ryu-ko's shoulder for support so that she didn't fall over from laughing.

Hinata walked over to Naruto. It wasn't known what she said to him, but he thankfully STOPPED dancing and they too left.

"Hey there girls! The fun has arrived!" A familiar voice rang from the side of them, and they both turned to see a disgruntled Sasuke, Tei, and Suijin.

Tei was still trying to fix his tie, while Suijin started picking on him. "I told you that you should have worn a clip-on like me." "Bite me. Are you even certain that you should be here? You're pretty much a missing-nin, when you think about it..." "Uh...later! C'mon Kara, let's go dance!" Suijin grabbed Kara and dragged her into the crowd of dancers.

Tei finally managed to get the tie on well enough, and he shrugged as he walked off, leaving Sasuke and Ryu-ko alone.

"Uh...you look nice, Ryu-ko..." Sasuke said a little awkwardly, and he looked down at the ground embarrassed. Ryu-ko placed her heads on her hips. "That's all that you can say to me?"

Sasuke looked up, his brief confusing disappearing when he saw the amusement dancing within Ryu-ko's eyes. "In the almighty words of Suijin; let's go and try out this dancing thing."

"There's a problem. I...can't dance." Sasuke looked even more embarrassed, and Ryu-ko laughed. "Neither can I, but I'm sure that we'll do just fine."

She tugged lightly on the sleeve of his shirt, and he reluctantly followed her out into the crowd. They started dancing...

Ryu-ko looked up at the starlit sky as they twirled about. Peace and happiness filled her, and she could not imagine herself anyplace else. Here she was happy...happy with her friends and the people she loved...

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Author's Notes: Da-mn...was this a hard ministory to type. It was fun to work with though, so I hope that you reviewers happen to like it...


	18. Ministory 10

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory # 10**

**Ryu-ko and the Shrine Incident**

Ryu-ko was somewhat scared of going back to the shrine, but she had to sleep somewhere. It was her only home, and the people did help her out.

Ryu-ko opened the shrine doors and walked in. The women in the shrine were scurrying around trying to help the injured genin.

"Ryu-ko, there you are!" One of them said, "You must stay here, there is a missing-nin on the loose."

Ryu-ko stared at the odd woman confused. She didn't hear about a missing-nin. Unless, she was talking about Itachi, but the only person he would injure is Sasuke.

Ryu-ko rushed to the room where all the injured shinobi were kept. She searched around getting a good look at them all.

Ryu-ko let out a sigh when she got to the last genin. None of them were Sasuke.

Ryu-ko went to the stairs, and headed for her room. When she got there, she opened the door and saw Itachi.

"What are you doing here?" Ryu-ko was now angry.

"I wanted to see you. I wanted to brush my lips against yours," Itachi came closer to Ryu-ko, who backed up with every step Itachi took.

One of the shrine women walked by the room and saw Itachi.

"Kya! There's a man in the shrine! There's a man in the shrine!" Everyone began to run around in fear of the man.

Itachi tilted his head in confusion. He stared at Ryu-ko who was now running at him with a fist. Itachi didn't have any time to dodge, or think about the attack Ryu-ko was going to unleash on him.

Ryu-ko punched Itachi in the stomach, which he didn't exactly feel anything. He watched as everyone ran by the door. His red eyes watched as the women ran back and forth in front of Ryu-ko's door.

------------

A/N: Well, this was another story written by me, Komei.

Warning: Never let guys in a shrine full of women.


	19. Ministory 11

**A Daughter's Honor**

**Ministory #11**

**Ryu-ko and Naruto's Cooking**

Warning: Beware Naruto's cooking...

----------------

Ryu-ko was starving, but she wasn't in the mood for anything. She came across the ramen shop even though she hates ramen. Ryu-ko decided as hungry as she was, she would have to live on ramen right now.

Ryu-ko walked up to the ramen shop where she saw Naruto. He as wearing an apron that had a picture of a hot bowl of ramen. Naruto smiled and waved at Ryu-ko.

"Welcome to the ramen shop, home of the best ramen. Can I take your order?" Naruto said happily.

"First of all don't say that in front of me!" Ryu-ko said.

"But my boss said I have to!" Naruto was waiting for her order.

"Fine, can I get some beef flavored ramen?" Ryu-ko said giving Naruto some money.

"Here you go! Made it myself!" Naruto was happy he could se his famous talent for other people.

"That's ok; I would like some ramen that someone else made." Ryu-ko pushed the bowl away from her.

"What's wrong with my cooking?" Naruto said angrily.

"I don't know what you do with that ramen before you cook it (A/N: Not in that way either people). You probably put poison on it!"

"Hey!"

Out of nowhere Iruka appeared and sat next to Ryu-ko. He had a smile on his face as he too ordered some ramen.

"Welcome to the ramen shop, home of the best ramen. Can I take your order?" Naruto said happily.

"Iruka, can you make me some ramen?" Ryu-ko asked.

"What's wrong with Naruto's cooking?"

"I don't trust his cooking. He probably puts poison or something gross in it."

"Good point!" Iruka went behind the counter and made some beef flavored ramen.

Iruka and Ryu-ko enjoyed their ramen while Naruto watched. His stomach growled, but he couldn't believe Iruka. Iruka made food for Ryu-ko and himself, but there was none for Naruto.

Naruto stared at the two, and walked off in shame. If he couldn't get Iruka to like his cooking, how was he going to get anyone else to?

--------------

A/N: THE END! Komei is here, and saying goodbye and farewell.


	20. The Sakura War Part 1

Chapter Six-The Sakura War (Part 1)

Disclaimer: ............ Honestly, at this point, is anyone even reading this? I could probably get away with claiming that Sasuke is mine!

-laughs-

Warning: Angst (Yep, still here...), EVIL SAKURA, a new technique, and Needle Man (!). Rating: P.G.ish for sheer evilness on Sakura's part. And a lot of foul language from Ryu-ko/Yoru. However, due to something that happens between Ryu-ko and Sasuke I have to rate this chapter P.G. 13. Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. Definitely SuiKara now. And probably KakashiKarma. I'm still thinking about that one. Author's Notes: No, this story hasn't died!!! I'm so very sorry for the long update; I've had a long bout of writer's block and choose to use that time to work on other stories. I swear that I will see this story through to the end, and I mean it too. 

This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is mainly about a recovery of memory; the second is about Sakura's war. –heheh- You'll see what I mean...

Now, this is going to be a funny chapter... I have some great ideas, and my Co-authors, Shiinji (who runs the 'A Daughter's Honor' ministories series) and Komei (who helps him out) are gonna' help me out. Thank Kami!!

If there is anything you really want to see happen in this story (within reason, that is), don't hesitate to tell me. I'll be glad to work it in somehow.

One last thing. This has got to be one of the cutest chapters that I've ever written. I hope that you enjoy it.

Chapter Dedication: Hm. This Chappie Dedication goes to...

-drumroll- ChoongSung!!! I absolutely love your character, Tei. He's so much fun to play with!! -holds Tei-plushie by its arms and starts making it dance- Keeeeee!!!!

_-cutscene-_

Chapter Six-The Sakura War (Part 1)

Wow. What a lucky day this was!

A young genin walked through the village, hands behind his head as he looked around. Having just scored some money from an unsuspecting fool, he was out to scare up some grub.

'Hey...what's that..?'

He walked closer to the figure he had seen lying on the ground, and lightly nudged it. It stirred, a moan escaping from its mouth.

"HEY! Are you okay?!"

He bent down, checking the girl's pulse. It was alright, she just seemed to be stunned.

'Well, she can't just stay lying out here...'

He shouldered his pack, and lifted up the girl.

'Damn, I need to work out more...and there goes my dinner...'

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko was caught within the midst of a horrible dream. A dark figure was chasing her, and she couldn't find the way out of the shadowy realm. When she finally stopped running and prepared to face her chaser, the dream abruptly ended.

She awoke and sat up to find herself on a mat on the floor of another unfamiliar room. Mentally, she wondered why she always seemed to end up in this situation, when some strange guy walked in.

"Hey, you're up. Good, I thought that you'd sleep forever."

He had short, spiky, black hair with red tips. His dark cat-shaped, forest green eyes were wide and curious. He couldn't be no more than her own age, but she didn't recognize him from those she'd seen at the Ninja Academy; so maybe he was already on a team?

"I'm Rashi Suijin. You were knocked out on the street, so I brought you here. Don't worry; I didn't do anything to you."

He lifted up his hands in a gesture that signified innocence, and Ryu-ko believed him. She shook her head slowly, trying to clear her slightly befuddled head.

"My name is Yor...Ryu-ko! It's Ryu-ko!"

"Do you even know your name?"

"I'm not even sure about that anymore..."

Standing up, Ryu-ko cracked her shoulders, which were stiff from lying on the floor.

"Listen. Thank you for helping me, but I really need to be getting back. Can you show me to the Kyuui Shrine?"

"Uh...yah. But why do you want to go there?"

"I've been staying there for the past while. The priestesses are nice enough, I guess."

It was Suijin's turn to shake his head.

"I'll take you about half-way. There isn't any way that you are going to get me closer. That head priestess is EVIL, and I'll swear on it too."

Ryu-ko actually laughed at the indignant look on the boy's face. Obviously, he had run-ins with Mikomi before. And yes, the old woman could be quite a terror if you stepped wrong around her.

_-cutscene-_

Waving a farewell to her new friend, Ryu-ko suddenly found herself standing right before the once-home of the Uchiha Clan. Beside it, and boarded up just like the other, was the Fuyu Clan's lair.

Drawn to the door, Ryu-ko broke the seal and edged inside the dilapidated building. Someone hasn't been here in a long time, she reflected as she looked around. What she found that her eyes noticed first was a set of old photographs still sitting up on the mantle of a fireplace. She was struck with another brief memory...

_-cutscene-_

"_Go fish. My turn, Sasu! Do you have a...eight of hearts?"_

"_Nope. Go fish to that!"_

_She laughed, feeling warm and happy inside of her. The cracking fire burned within the fireplace behind her, and they were curled up playing a game of 'Go Fish' on the carpet in front of it._

"_Here you two go. Hot cocoa."_

_A beautiful woman walked into the room from the kitchen, carrying two mugs of cocoa. They tossed down their cards, taking the cocoa from her mother._

"_Thanks mommy!"_

"_Yay! Thanks Mrs. Kaioh"_

"_You are very welcome, Sasuke. Are you sure that Itachi didn't want to come over?"_

_Sasu took a sip of the hot cocoa._

"_No. He was busy again."_

_Her mother nodded then left the room. Forgetting how hot the cocoa was, she took a big drink of it._

"_OWIE!!"_

"_Yoru-chan, you okay?"_

_She yelped, tears running from her eyes due to the pain. Looking up, she could see Sasu's face very close to hers. Leaning over, he gave her a small and quick kiss on the cheek._

"_There you go! I gave you a kiss, so it should feel better now!"_

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko lightly touched her cheek, and then moved to the fireplace. With a shaking hand, she lifted up the photos one by one.

The gray eyes of a powerfully built man captured her own. The man was laughing in the picture, holding a tiny baby fondly.

The next picture was of a little girl, fingers curled on the side of her mother's leg tightly as she stared fearfully at the camera.

And the last...the last was a picture of the family and Sasu's. They all looked so happy, so peaceful in the picture that she wondered what had happened to them all.

A voice suddenly rung out behind her.

"Are you here for a reason, Ryu-ko? Or are you just poking around?"

"Sasuke!?"

She whirled on him, gray eyes meeting him in a fearful gesture. She sighed in relief when it was really him, not someone else.

"...hm..."

He strode over, taking the last picture from her hands and flinching when he looked at it. His hand clenched, and the frame cracked.

"Things that have been buried should stay buried for a reason. It isn't right for you to be here amongst the belongings of the dead."

"Sasuke..."

"Go home, Ryu-ko. You don't belong here among the dead. Go."

"Sasu."

He froze when he heard that nickname slip from her lips, and slowly turned his head.

"What did you say?"

"Sasu...?"

His hand started to shake, and Sasuke let go of the picture. It crashed to the floor; the glass surface shattering.

"Y-Yoru?"

"...I-I think...I...I...don't..."

His face was suddenly inches away from Ryu-ko's, and she didn't move for the fear of causing him to hit her again.

"Is...is it really you? Can it really be you?"

Sasuke's voice cracked harshly, and he cupped her face in one trembling hand.

"Oh, Yoru. I believed that you were dead! That Itachi had..."

"Please don't call me that, Sasuke. Yoru really is dead. Itachi killed her long ago. Maybe one day she will return, but...I...I'm Ryu-ko now. I cannot change the person that I've become, just the same as you cannot change who you've become. I...cannot remember all that happened that day...but I know that it was something that changed us both. We can never go back to how we once were; our childhood and innocence are gone. I'm sorry, but you have to believe that."

Sasuke listened to her every word, and then suddenly drew her into a tight and powerful hug. Ryu-ko could feel his tears rain lightly onto her neck, in which he had buried his face into.

"I won't ever let you go. No matter how much that you've change, you will always be my Yoru. My best friend."

Ryu-ko placed a hand on Sasuke's back, and allowed herself to close her eyes. This...felt right to her, and she knew that what was meant to be will always find a way...

_-cutscene- _

Meanwhile...

Haruno Sakura had followed Sasuke to the building, and she was peering into the window when he had hugged Ryu-ko. With fire burning within her eyes and a murderous intent, she stormed away to plan Ryu-ko's demise.

'Just you wait until tomorrow...'

_-cutscene-_

"Sasuke, I would rather not let anyone know about me yet."

The two genin walked slowly toward the shrine where Ryu-ko stayed, enjoying the evening breeze and cool night air. At Sasuke's confused look, she elaborated more.

"I mean, there are still a lot of things that I do not remember. Couldn't we just wait until I at least remember all that took place on that day?"

"I could always tell you, Ryu-ko. But it wouldn't be the same, would it?"

"Not really. It would be better if I did this on my own. Sorry, Sasu."

He nodded. It was as he expected. If Ryu-ko was anything like she used to be, than she was one to do things for herself rather than depend on others to do it for her.

"Yor...Ryu-ko..."

They had stopped in front of the shrine. Sasuke stared for the longest moment at it, and then turned to Ryu-ko. He started to blush faintly and stare at the ground. Ryu-ko tilted her head, confused.

"Is there something the matter, Sasu?"

"Can you kiss me?"

"What!?"

"I knew that was a stupid question...never mind."

Turning, he started to walk away. Ryu-ko was now even more confused, but she still reached out for Sasuke's arm and caught it.

"Wait."

He stopped, his back still turned towards her. She thought deeply, and then nodded. Knowing that he couldn't see that action, she whispered softly.

"Yes...I'll kiss you if you want..."

Ryu-ko had been caught off guard by the question, and she was hoping that she wouldn't regret this later. But then she suddenly knew that this was a decision that she would never regret for as long as she lived.

Sasuke turned, and whatever he was about to say was abruptly cut off by a sweet and gentle press of Ryu-ko's lips against his. She was obviously new at this, and the kiss was over almost as soon as it started. Sasuke smiled, and then shook his head.

"That's not how you do it. Here...let me show you."

He almost violently shoved his lips onto hers with bruising force. But then, when he felt her start to tense up and grow fearful, he gentled it. His tongue darted out, lightly brushing against Ryu-ko's lips in a soothing motion.

"Easy...easy now... I won't hurt you, I promise..."

He whispered into her mouth, his hands tugged lightly on the hem of her shirt and then moved up to her mid-back. She shivered, and Sasuke pressed his lips once again against hers.

'I'm in trouble.'

Ryu-ko thought, and Sasuke let the tip of his tongue once again run across her lips; begging for entrance.

She parted her mouth slightly, a bit confused by what she was supposed to do. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, swirling the sensitive muscle around hers. She clenched his shirt tightly in her hands, shocked by the array of emotions and sensations that she felt.

Sasuke pulled away, and looked down at her. With one last light kiss, he turned and started walking away. Ryu-ko couldn't find the strength to even move, one hand was placed to her lips stunned.

'Where...where did he learn to kiss like that...?'

_-cutscene-_

Kakashi had been going to visit Mikomi and see how Ryu-ko's progress had been since he couldn't seem to locate Karma, but he stopped when he had seen Ryu-ko and Sasuke walk up together. Not knowing what exactly was going to take place; he hid and watched the entire event unfold from the time she grabbed Sasuke's arm to him leaving. For her sake, Kakashi waited until she had entered the shrine and when Sasuke walked by him before he reached out and grabbed his genin.

"Busy night?"

"No."

Sasuke answered automatically after his initial jump in surprise at Kakashi's abrupt entrance. At the disbelieving look on Kakashi's face, he knew.

"How much did you see?"

"Enough. Sasuke, don't hurt her more than she has been already. She had felt more pain that even I have been through."

"You don't think that I know that!? I'd never hurt Y...Ryu-ko. She means too much to me."

Kakashi sighed.

"Follow me, Sasuke. We need to talk."

_-cutscene- _

Author's Notes: -dodges kunai thrown her way- Heh, perfect place to end Part 1. Just you wait until Part 2 arrives; it'll be well worth the wait.

Please note that my request line is open, so drop in one if you are interested.

Just a suggestion, but while you wait, why don't you go and check out my 'Tiger's Tears' story? It's my first **completed** request. I almost started crying while I was typing the ending and the epilogue; it's so sad. Go see. –sniffsniff-


	21. The Sakura War Part 2

Chapter Six-The Sakura War (Part 2)

Disclaimer: ………… Honestly, at this point, is anyone even reading this? I could probably get away with claiming that Sasuke is mine!

laughs- Oooo! Can I have Gaara too? He's another favorite!

Warning: Angst (Yep, still here…), EVIL SAKURA, a new technique, and Needle Man (!). (This is for the entire chapter).

Rating: P.G.ish for sheer evilness on Sakura's part. And a lot of foul language from Ryu-ko/Yoru.

Pairing: SasuYoru for the entire fic. Definitely SuiKara now. And probably KakashiKarma. I'm still thinking about that one.

Author's Notes: Alright, I know that you are all wondering where Chapter Six-The Sakura War (Part 2) is…and I'll tell you…

Yoru-plushie: holds up a sign Don't believe a word she says, she…

Kadiska: grabs Yoru-plushie and hides her Don't listen to her; I tell the truth. She's stuffed.

I was working on the chapter and I have gotten about ten pages into it without saving, when the power went out in my house. You can bet that I was pissed, and it made me decide to take a short break from this. BUT DON'T YOU CRY!

Hm. I've changed this chapter once again. Instead of only being split into two parts, it shall now be in four. Why? Well, if I do this I can churn out this chapter faster than I have been, and still have time to work on my new Inuyasha story request…among others…especially my X-Men Evolution ficcy-_Broken Angel_! ((Also including my Wolf's Rain ones I've been neglecting. –sigh-)) Anyway, that's about it.

Um…I'm going to skip the entire Sasuke/Kakashi conversation. Why? Well, we can clearly say that was the ENTIRE reason I had writer's block for so long. I had ABSOLUTELY no IDEA what to say. Maybe I'll revisit it later, if I get any ideas.

I swear, that I will see this story to the end. After Chapter Six is completed…there will only be about three more full chapters (and a ton more ministories), after that…and then the FINAL EPILOGUE (which, scary enough, I already have completed and typed up-go figure)! Anyway, enjoy.

Another reason behind my writer's block is the fact that I have only a very few ideas behind the whole 'Sakura's Revenge' thing. It would be very appreciated if you send me ideas, and credit will be given where it is due.

You will get a special surprise if you review for my fanfiction…you'll see!

Um…I skipped to the training/new technique. So…yah…

Oh, I was wondering, do you think that I need to give this fanfic a PG-13 rating? I was debating about that, and maybe I should…I don't know.

Chapter Dedication: Now, who should this chapter be dedicated to? Oh, I KNOW! KaibasShadowGirl!

Shout Outs: Oooo! Again! So many wonderful REVIEWS!

Uchiha Demon- I've updated it! Cheer for the zaniness of training! Oh, and thank you!

Kausi- Neither am I; I'm a Gaara fangirl. . Go me!

xkuroxshinobix- Bwah! I've updated finally!

Dragon Man 180- backs away slowly You make a very good Gai…

Kichou- Oooo! I wonder how….

_-cutscene-_

Chapter Six-The Sakura War (Part 2)

Ryu-ko slowly walked outside her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looking around. Mother Mikomi was standing there, holding a scroll. Blinking several times, the girl looked blankly at the scroll then to the old priestess holding it.

"It's from your Jounin…I think that she expects you to meet for training today."

Taking the scroll from Mikomi, she unrolled it and read the kanji without hesitation. So…they were to go _there_ again…

_-cutscene- _

As the three followed Karma down the cavern halls, Karma began to think.

'In no time, this three will be set off on missions. Lately, Genins have been sent on dangerous missions because the lack of Jounin and Chunin around here. I know that their first mission will most likely be C-rank...if not higher! I better start teaching them all techniques that will help them along the way.'

The wild Jounin then turned around and stopped in her tracks. She then addressed the three.

"Okay guys! I will now teach you your first technique! Behold!"

Karma performed a few seals and a burst of chakra came from her body.

"Ninpou: Houmen suji (Ninja Technique: Muscle Release)!"

In an instant, Karma began running around the room at a very high speed. The three genins couldn't even keep up. Karma then became visible again, and punched through a boulder without much physical strain. Kara, Ryu-ko, and Tei seemed confused.

"You all seemed confused of what just happened. I will explain. The technique I just used, Houmen suji, is a ninjutsu technique which makes the brain let go of any restraint it is putting on your muscles...making you temporarily more powerful and faster. You will each learn how to use this technique."

After a few minutes, the Jounin began to explain how to do it. It mainly consisted of concentrating chakra from the brain into the area you wanted to improve.

"NOW! COMMENCE TRAINING!"

"Uh...yah. Sure."

Ryu-ko muttered out-loud, then thought to herself.

'Sounds easy enough.'

So she had to concentrate her chakra from her mind into the area she wanted to improve? Looking at her hand, Ryu-ko narrowed her eyes and focused with a great amount of intensity. At first, nothing happened... Then...after a good five-seven minutes, Ryu-ko felt a tingling sensation.

'Either my hand has fallen asleep on me-or this is it!'

Spotting another boulder similar to the one Karma destroyed, she runs over to it. Cocking her hand into a fist, she slams down on it with all her strength...and only succeeds in nearly breaking her fingers...

"Aw…SHIT!"

Ryu-ko clutched her poor hand, blowing on it and trying to end the pain...

'It fell asleep...'

Tei thought about the amount of chakra he would need to expel to perform the move correctly.

"I think I understand."

The only male Genin from Karma's team focused chakra to his quadraceped and arched his back. He began a charge at the caverns concave wall. He pushed his sinews to their limits. With triumphant bounds he noticed his speed increase beyond what he had been privy to earlier. His sandals forced a determined clack against the ground the unabrasive slope of the rock's form allowed him to make a determined vertical run... If he could just speed up. He could feel the muscles strain and contort.

"Come on!"

The slope increased and Tei found himself running acutely out of oxygen. The respiration in his leg muscles became painful and caustic. His Achilles' tendon swelled to a monstourous size and burst, shattering his concentration and washing him with an unbearable amount of pain. Tei's back arched as he yelped before collapsing to the floor.

As the three trained to learn the technique, Karma cheered them all on. She wasn't going to up on them-they could do this!

"Come on! You guys can do it if you try. Kara...let's see you try. GO FOR IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU ALL!"

Kara first examined the others. She saw Tei and Ryu-ko getting hurt so she became nervous. She didn't think that she would do very well learning this new technique, but she gave it a try...

"Here I go!..."

She started by concentrating her chakra. She was thinking how much chakra she should use. At first nothing happened, but she began to feel something strange in her muscles.

'I think I'm getting it...'

As she kept concentrating, she then felt numb and she was suddenly in pain.

"Ahhh!"

A few minutes later, Kara became sore... She stopped, looking to her Jounin and her team mates…

"I don't think I'm going to do well in this..."

"Come on you three! You can do it! Keep it up! Believe in yourselves!"

Karma cheered for them once more; as much as she wanted to help them, this was something that they had to figure out on their own if they even dreamed on improving enough to pass the Chunin Exams coming up…

Tei clutched his injured leg. It was swollen and bruised but wasn't nothing too serious. He wished he had bothered to pay attention to some of that pain numbing jutsu they taught in the academy.

'Hmm if I can't walk, I'll focus on my arm strength then.'

Tei curled up his fist and much more gradually built up chakra. His concentration wandered from time to time back to his damaged appendage; requiring him to reapply chakra to his bicep.

He held his arm high above his head and landed a devastating thud on the ground. From the thud began to jet veins of darkness. The veins all turned towards the center of the cave.

'Did I do it?'

Lifting his hand to see the crater he surely caused with that blow, Tei grinned. Then, to his devastation, he found only a dead crawfish that had scurried under his strike.

Tei rubbed his leg trying to numb the pain. He had it elevated and the swelling had decreased. Tei decided to try the technique again. He began moving all of his strength into his right bicep, he then rose to his feet and channeled the chakra to his arm.

As he slowly moved towards a boulder in the dark corner of the underground labyrinth he felt the chakra circulate in his appendage. He lifted his arm and was surprised at the little effort it took. It seemed as if he had been wearing weights his entire life, and only now bothered to take them off.

With little strain he meandered to the stone. His muscle twitched as he brought his arm to a 4 o' clock position above his right shoulder. Then, in one fluent movement he brought his arm blazing forth while locking his wrist firmly. The bone in his hand held firm as an ear-splitting crack resonated throughout the natural made room.

'Success!'

"I did it! I broke the boulder."

The large rock vibrated as a spider web fracture spread across the face of the stone. The rock now halved, fell apart revealing two asymmetrical crystalline centers.

"Umm... Karma-sama, what are those?"

"Well, it appears like you have completed the training for this technique, so just wait around till the others finish. That rock is a geode, and I think that those are crystals…"

Kara began to be sore, but still, she gave it another try. She thought that she would be successful this time. Then Kara gathered all her chakra, and then she started to concentrate.

As she was concentrating, she felt her muscles flexing on their own. She felt very powerful all of a sudden, and she knew she can do this. This technique seemed so simple, but it was really hard. She kept on concentrating, feeling like she just came home from the gym. So she kept thinking that this would be done really quickly. Kara fell to the floor; she was way too tired to learn this new technique.

She really wanted to learn the technique. She thought of Suijin cheering her on.

'C'mon! I can do this!'

Kara knew that she had to learn this technique, but she was too tired. She decided to try one more time.

"C'MON! I can do this!"

Kara once again tried to concentrate. She gathered up her chakra and tried once more.

Her muscles began to be sore again, but she kept trying and trying. Kara felt something different about her muscles this time, just like she did the first time she tried to learn this technique.

Making a fist, she smashed it down to the ground. It then started to shake, almost as if an earthquake had struck it.

"Yes! I finally did it!"

Seeing that Kara and Tei had already finished, Ryu-ko didn't want to be left behind. She focused, finding a little spark of chakra, gathering it, whirling upon the boulder that she had first struck and slamming her closed fist against its surface. The rock fissured, and then crumpled apart, leaving pebbles and good throwing stones in its place.

As Ryu-ko and Kara finished learning the technique, Karma couldn't help but to smile once again.

"YES! CHUNIN EXAM HERE WE COME! ...maybe I am still getting ahead of myself, but you were spectacular! Nicely done! Well, time to move on to the next technique. Hope you are ready for it."

Karma turns around, and walks to a different part of the cavern, expecting the three to follow her. Kara follows Karma-sensei.

"So, what are we going to do now…?"

Tei let a smile creep across his face. With this move, he could boost his Taijutsu to reasonable levels.

"Thank you Karma-sensei, I will commit that technique to memory."

Tei felt himself progressing in the path that he had chosen and was proud.

'Maybe I will finally prove myself after all.'

As they walk down the caverns, Karma makes a sudden stop. Then she turned to the three genins.

"I will now teach you all a new technique! Here it goes!"

All of a sudden, Karma's hands begin to glow with chakra.

"BURNING FISTS OF GLORY!"

Then Karma runs at another rock, and smashes it to pieces. She looked back at her student to see them staring at her with wonder in their eyes. Or maybe they just though that their teacher was more than a little crazy…

"Okay everyone, this tech is called 'Burning Fists of Glory'. One of my original techniques, I might add. To use it, you need to wrap chakra onto your hands. When this is complete, you need to make sure the chakra stays balanced. Afterwards, you are free to attack to cause more damage to opponents. You may begin training...NOW!"

Kara was really tired, but still she watched Karma-sensei show them the new move. The technique looked very hard, but the small and shy girl wasn't one to give up ever.

"Here I go!"

Making a fist, Kara gathered chakra on her hand. She felt stronger in somewhat of a strange way, probably from the new tech that they had just learned. Then she thought she got it right, so she went up to a boulder and smashed it with her hands. Bad move!

"OWWWWWWWWWW!"

Kara almost broke her finger, but she only got some bad bruises and it started swelling painfully. Ouch.

"Damn! I knew this new technique was going to be hard.. ARG!

Tei was aware of his low chakra pools, so he was a bit concerned with the notion of trying this technique so soon after the previous one. He watched as Kara made her attempt…and sadly fail…

'I suppose this is a necessary part of advancing; taking risks. I will try my best and hope I do not waste my energy.'

Beginning to circulate his chakra, he could sense how much of his pool he had used up. Half of his pool was gone. Tei was glad, as he thought he had less than a quarter left actually.

'The only way I could have this much chakra left is if... But when how long have I had this power and not known?'

With confidence, he shunted a large portion of his chakra into his hands. Similar to Karma's hands his glow with the intensity of the chakra. Unfortunately, as he moved his right hand back to swing he realized how grossly unbalanced his chakra had covered his appendages. Correcting the problem quickly, the chakra burst out of his hands and demolished the boulder in front of him. He nodded, this being something that he was skilled at, and then went to stand beside Ryu-ko.

Kara was once again pissed off for screwing up. Just like it seemed, it was hard. She still didn't give up and gave it another try. First gathering her chakra up again to fists, she then went up to another boulder.

'C'MON! It better work this time…'

Kara smashed her hand as fast as she could. The boulder made a small crack, but Kara got really hurt after that blow. Things just weren't going very well for her today…

"DAMN! I screwed up again."

Kara found herself once again trying. However, this time she was really mad. She took out all her anger and gathered chakra to her hand. After that she made a fist and stepped up to another boulder, ready to smash her hand through the boulder. She thought about how happy she would be if she mastered the technique; she could go and rub it in that street-ninja's face. What was that flirt's name; Suijin?

"C'mon! I have to master this technique!"

She swung her hand as fast as she could. Thinking about the pain she would feel if she messed up, she prayed that she would master this technique. After Kara took a swing, she didn't feel anything. She thought that she missed, but when she looked up, she noticed that she smashed the boulder to hundreds of pieces.

"Wahoo…Sensei! Did I do it!"

Karma had been distracted by several small, sightless fish that had been swimming in a small rocky pool to the side of the cavern, and she had gone over to look at them. How could they move with no eyes; was it chakra or…? She returned her attention to her Genin when she heard Kara's question.

"Oh, you are done already Kara; Tei? Nice job! I knew you could do it!"

Then Karma walked over to Ryu-ko and poked her, to see if she were still alive. She glared at her, causing for her to laugh right at her.

"Come on, come on…you're almost done…"

'Wrap chakra into your hands?'

Ryu-ko thought briefly, then peered down at her already bruised and filthy hands. She glanced up, looking from her sensei to her fellow two students.

'Right. I can do this.'

Closing her eyes, Ryu-ko delved deep into the inner spring in which her chakra laid. Feeling the warmth as the chakra flowed into her hands, she reopened her eyes and rushed forward. However, there was a mistake on her part. As soon as she let her focus shift to a target, the chakra again flowed right from her hands and dissipated. Ryu-ko was again at square one. Growling under her breath, she mentally chided herself for once again letting her focus slip.

Ryu-ko allowed the chakra to once again return to her hands, and, this time she refused to allow her concentration to slip. When all else failed, she did have a stubborn side to her, something that could be both a good and a bad thing. Clenching her fingers into a fist, the chakra-empowered hand slams directly into the boulder she was just aiming for.

It wasn't enough. While more bruises were added to her growing collection, the boulder was now sporting several cracks.

'Not enough chakra...'

Ryu-ko's father had trained her to use the least amount of chakra as possible to get a job completed; conserving what was left for other tasks. She had misjudged the amount of chakra that was needed; not expecting it to take as much.

Allowing a greater amount of chakra into her hands was the easy part-maintaining it there was much harder. Gritting her teeth, Ryu-ko backed up until she was about two yards from the stone. She was ready.

Running the remaining distance, she slammed her fist dead center of the boulder. The cracks multiply-then the boulder shatters from the force of the chakra-laced blow.

Standing there for a brief minute, she blew painfully on her hands. She then looked to her sensei for any further instructions..

"Alrighty my oh-so-wonderful Genin…your training is completed for today…I'm going to allow you the rest of the evening off."

Karma cheerfully escorted the drop-dead exhausted genin from the cavern, and they were stunned to see that where it had been early morning when they had arrived at the cavern, the sun was now slowly setting and the sky was growing into a darker hue…

_-cutscene-_

With faintly muttered good-byes, the three parted ways to their own separate homes, and Ryu-ko found herself alone in the market district. They were packing up for the night, and suddenly one elderly man stopped her.

"Miss, take this."

He pressed an old, leather bound book into Ryu-ko's hands, and then disappeared into the crowd before she could even react.

'O…kay…'

Glancing down at the book in her hands, she decided to return to the shrine before she took a closer look at it…

_-cutscene-_

Ryu-ko sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at the book that she held in her lap. There was a single word inscribed on the cover, but it was so faded that she could just barely make it out… It said: Chronicles…

Shifting her weight, she opened the book carefully, and then stared in open shock at the name written in ink on the inside flap of the front cover.

"Fuyu Syco…but that's…"

_-cutscene-_

"_Syco…so this is your daughter; you were right she's as beautiful as your wife!"_

_A man loomed in her vision, her hand being held tightly and in comfort by an even larger looking man. Her father; his ANBU mask hanging from a loop of rope on his belt; which also double as a shuriken holster. She could remember that he was a specialist of thrown weapons; kunai, needles, shuriken…it didn't matter to him… Nor was she ever scared when he was around, she knew that he would protect her. The ANBU known as Syco was her Daddy after all…_

_-cutscene-_

Blinking slowly, Ryu-ko snapped her mind from the memory in a daze. This journal…had been her father's? But…

She lightly touched the first entry, dated over fifteen years earlier. This was a journal from when he was younger; when he had been completing his own training…and when he had first met her mother; a shinobi transferred from Iwa…the Village of the Hidden Stone…

'How…how did that man…?'

_-cutscene-_

Author's Notes: -arches a brow as she looks at all her reviewerssmirks- Yes, I happen to like ending chapters at a mystery for all you people…so don't mind me. . Anyway, what did you think? Was it descriptive enough for you? Ah, well…enjoy… I'll type up the next chapter in a while, but first I must work on my _Broken Angel_ story some more. Until then; laters! waves

Please note that my request line is open, so drop in one if you are interested. Only X-Men: Evolution and the occasional Naruto ones right now; I've been very busy lately…

…I can't believe that I actually decided to name Ryu-ko/Yoru's Daddy Syco… Get it, it's a pun. Remember that the Fuyu Clan's members are berserkers, and his name is Syco…and… Haha…yah…funny…I know…


End file.
